Developments in Governance & Participation

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Issue 05/10 04 May 2010

 AFGHANISTAN

Developments in Governance & Participation 01  –  30 April 2010

 Ann-Kristin Otto – Governance & Participation KM

([email protected]) (www.cimicweb.org) 

This document is intended to provide an overview of relevant Governance events in Afghanistan from 01- 30 April 2010. More comprehensive information is available on the Civil-Military Overview (CMO) at www.cimicweb.org.1  Hyperlinks to original source material are highlighted in blue and 

underlined in the embedded text. 

Parliamentary Elections

  Afghans Begin Preparations for Parliamentary Vote. Despite an unresolved legislativedispute between the Wolesi Jirga  (Lower House of Parliament) and President Karzai over thechanges to the electoral law, the country’s electoral bodies are moving towards theparliamentary elections scheduled for 18 September. A presidential decree introduced thechanges to the law earlier this year but the decree was rejected by Members of Parliament

(MPs) (refer to CFC’s 08 April Afghanistan Review, Governance & Participation Section) whilesupported by the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament). The row caused a complicatedlegal debate on whether or not the Wolesi Jirga had the constitutional right to reject the law.Reuters  writes that the dispute between Karzai and Afghan lawmakers over the proposedchanges to the electoral law remains unresolved  and leaves several questions unansweredregarding September’s voting process. Reuters  quotes an IEC official saying that “for the timebeing” the electoral body was implementing the changes made by Karzai’s decree. During asession of the Wolesi Jirga on 17 April, MPs had urged a delay of the candidate registrationprocess until the legal row was resolved, according to Pajhwok Afghan News . Martine van Bijlertof the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) writes that the Wolesi Jirga  seems to have “lost thebattle” with the Upper House and the presidential office and the changes were enacted withoutthe parliament’s approval.  A report released by the US Department of Defense on 26 April notesthat the electoral changes have “the potential to complicate international oversight and fraudmonitoring.” 2 After Hamid Karzai appointed new officials  for both the Independent ElectionCommission (IEC) and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), as relayed by Pajhwok ,Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) Staffan de Mistura released a statement

1  A CMO user account is required to access some of the links in this document. 

2See “Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan,” pg. 48.

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recommending the international community release funds for the elections. De Mistura told  journalists during a press conference  on 17 April in Kabul that Karzai assured him that ECCdecisions will be taken with the endorsement of at least one of the two newly appointedinternational ECC members and that the constitutionally guaranteed 68 seats for femalecandidates in parliament would not be filled by male candidates if left vacant.

Candidate Registration Process Starts. On 20 April, the IEC launched the candidatenomination process for the elections, a press release  announced. The candidate nominationtimeline was extended by one day and will now run from 20 April through 05 May, an IEC pressrelease on 29 April announced. Candidates must be Afghan citizens and are required to presentat least 1,000 signed or fingerprinted supporter cards as well as resign from any governmentposts held. Women are specifically encouraged to apply, according to the IEC statement. Tolo TV reports that more than 1,000 candidates had registered by 29 April and the IEC reports thatout of 1,024 registered candidates 150 were female and an equal 150 kuchis (nomads). Duringhis introductory speech in Kabul, newly appointed IEC chairman Fazel Ahmad Manawi stressedthe need for a secure environment in which elections can be held and called on the Afghan andinternational security forces to ensure security for the electoral process. Other IEC officials such

as acting head of the IEC secretariat Zekriya Barakzai have expressed their concern about thevolatile security ahead of the Afghan polls, Tolo TV reports.

Recommendations for Electoral Reform.  Democracy International (DI)   conducted acomprehensive review and analysis of the Afghan electoral process and gatheredrecommendations of hundreds of stakeholders in the Afghan elections leading to a set of recommendations for electoral reform in Afghanistan. The 34 published recommendations constitute a consensus of 437 recommendations gathered from Afghan civil societyorganisations, international observer missions, assistance organisations and independentelectoral experts, DI writes. The recommendations include the abolishment of the Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV), a claim often voiced by electoral observation experts and severalnational and international organisations in order to strengthen the development of politicalparties in Afghanistan (refer to CFC’s Governance Report 03/10). Other recommendations focuson the strengthening of both the IEC (through appointing its commissioners consultativelyinvolving the Wolesi Jirga ) and the ECC (by granting it a permanent status, securing itsindependence, providing it with necessary and timely funds). Among others, the DI report alsocalls on the IEC to ensure staff impartiality, act more transparently and reach out tomarginalised populations in its recruitment process. The Pentagon report released on 26 Aprilstates that it is crucial that the upcoming parliamentary elections will be perceived as animprovement over the 2009 elections and that this will only be reached if measures are put inplace to reduce fraud at the polling sites.3 An article by the Telegraph quotes an unpublishedreport by DI saying that widespread voter fraud was inevitable if the country’s electoral systemdoes not undergo serious reform efforts. The report is quoted saying that cheating in the

elections is “now seen as the norm rather than the exception,” and that parliamentarycandidates were already preparing to buy votes. The Telegraph  writes that internationaldiplomats were already downplaying expectations for free and fair polls in September and thatthe Karzai administration has shown little effort to prevent a repeat of the fraud-riddenelections of August 2009.

3 See “Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan,” pg. 48.

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Sub-National Governance

Cabinet Approves Sub-National Governance Policy. On 22 March the Afghan cabinetapproved the new sub-national governance (SNG) policy, which had been in preparations sincethe fall of 2008. If enacted and fully implemented, the new policy will strengthen sub-nationalgovernance in Afghanistan by delegating more responsibility towards the provincial governorsand provincial councils, introducing some basic elements for provincial budgeting and increasingpublic accountability. It clarifies the roles of all SNG actors and could lead to a bettercoordination within the provinces as well as between the provinces and the central government.The Independent Directorate for Local Governance (IDLG) spearheaded the effort laying out thechallenges to enhance local governance and the strategies to draft the new SNG policy in   apresentation given in July 2009. Strengthening districts and provinces as independent entitiesby providing them with budgetary powers was identified as one of the principle reform needs bythe IDLG.4 The lack of budgetary powers leads to a centralised planning and budgeting processas well as the delivery of services being orchestrated from the central government level whichcontributes to a lack of accountability to the people, the IDLG presentation relays. Under thenew policy, governors will have a formal lead coordinating role among government entities

operating at the sub-national level encompassing provincial planning, budgeting, administration,development and security.5 Another significant change is the agreement that provincialgovernors, deputy governors and district governors will be appointed through a consultativeprocess involving the Civil Service Commission6, fulfilling its role as defined through the

  Afghanistan Compact.7 The SNG policy also addresses questions of accountability (byintroducing a code of conduct), de-concentration of authority (by delegating greater decision-making powers to the local level) and granting more budgetary powers to the local authorities.However, under the new SNG, provinces will not be independent budget entities, but will have astronger role in deciding how central funds are being used in the provinces.8 The new policy isan important step towards greater SNG, which remains a crucial goal in the efforts tostrengthen Afghan democracy. However, the new policy represents only a framework which willdepend on its implementation requiring a series of new laws, regulations, procedures andgovernment programmes.9 

Please visit our CFC Governance & Participation Discussion Board. 

4See IDLG presentation, slide 4.

5See SNG policy, pg. 3 and 4.

6In the SNG policy the Civil Service Commission is also referred to as the “Senior Appointments Board.”

7For more information on the consultative appointments process, refer to SNG policy, pg. 17.

8See SNG policy, pages 21 – 24.

9See SNG policy, pg. 6.

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