Daunting task ahead for Afghan president

KABUL, April 7: Afghanistan President Hamid KarzaiHamid Karzai, during a news conference on Sunday, announced that he would contest for another term as president to continue serving his people.
President Hamid Karzai, who had become head of the transitional administration in late 2001 after overthrow of Taliban regime, was elected as President of the country for five years October 2004.
While taking reign of the government, he was faced with numerous problems with security and rebuilding of the war-devastated country on the top. How much he achieved during the previous four years is not a secret, but while looking at his failures, it is also necessary to peep into the situation in which he (Karzai) stayed as head of the state during the previous few year.
Sweeping the polls with more than 55 per cent votes in his favour, the ethnic Pashtun from Kandahar, the former stronghold of Taliban movement, had also the fullest support of the United Nations, the United States and the Western countries who send their troops and pledged billions dollars of aid to rebuild the war-devastated country.
Besides Taliban and al-Qaeda's presence on the land of his country, warlords were the other force who were wielding unchallenging power with their private militias and huge number of arsenals in each province and district.
Beginning from ashes with the support of his western backers led by the United States, President Karzai's administration concentrated on building of institutions, and the foremost thing in this regard was the construction of a trained army and police force to meet the external as well as internal challenges.
While the difficult, if not impossible, task of the construction of security forces is still underway and the government is still far from achieving to build a well-trained army and police force, end of corruption from governmental offices was also a daunting task before the nascent administration.
Besides his failures, the holding of parliamentary elections in 2005 where a bi-cameral house with Meshrano Jirga or Senate and Wolesi Jirga or national assembly was formed with nearly 30 per cent representation for Afghan women was a great success. At the same time, members were also elected for provincial assemblies in all the 34 provinces of the country to represent the people.
However, many things went wrong and the foremost of those is the Security. The situation went from bad to worse between 2004 and 2007 as the Taliban, who had gone underground, started returning to their bases in Afghanistan in the latter half of 2005.
The militants strengthened their control in far-off and inaccessible provinces and districts in 2006 and started challenging writ of the state in areas as close as Maidan Wardak, located some 35 kilometres south of Kabul, central capital of Afghanistan.
The worsening security situation can be proved from a US intelligence report in February which said that the Karzai government was controlling just 30 per cent area of Afghanistan more than six years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and the ouster of the Taliban regime.
In his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the US' National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell was quoted as saying that 10 to 11 per cent of the country was controlled by Taliban while the remaining by warlords and tribal elders.
Although the Afghan government reacted sharply and rejected the report, it is clear like a day light that almost all the Afghan legislators, both of the Upper and Lower House, can not venture to go into their areas to meet their electorates for fear of Taliban.
It is also a fact that almost all the government officials, serving on senior positions and belonging to the volatile southern and southeastern zone, do not live in their respective villages and have hired houses in main cities to avoid being killed or damaged by the rebels.
Besides security, the Afghan government has also did now show up on the reconstruction front as well. Roads and streets are still in dilapidated condition even in the central capital Kabul while more than three million refugees in Pakistan and Iran are reluctant to return to their country because of lack of basic facilities of life and security.
Unemployment and corruption in government departments which are spreading frustration among common Afghans. The pouring in of billions of dollars in Afghanistan is bifurcating the Afghan society into the ‘have' and ‘have nots' while insecurity is causing serious threat to foreign as well as domestic investment, being considered as the lifeline of an economy.
Last, but not the least, warlords, as pointed out by expelled female member of Afghan parliament Malai Joya, are still present in the two houses of parliament. Those people have still their private militias which huge quantity of weaponry and their strength is more than the fledgling Afghan National Army, which is to take charge of security from ISAF in Kabul next year.
The coming 18 months or less, are of utmost importance for the incumbent Afghan president if he is serious to contest and remain in power for another five years. At the same time, he must not forget that Afghans in 2009 or early 2010 will not be the same as they were in 2004 (the year of presidential election) and late 2005 (parliamentary election).
Karzai will find a sea change in the behaviour, level of education and political consciousness of his countrymen this time because they had passed through the experiences in 2004. Then they used their right to vote in 2005 and will do so next year.
At the same time, Afghans have also seen and followed the situation in its neighbour - Iran and Pakistan - where their brethren elected governments with their vote. The case of Pakistan is of very much importance where the people defeated a dictator and said ‘No' to his policies despite all odds.
ENDS