When Elections are Not the Answer

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The lead up to elections this summer in Kabul (and in Washington) had all the drama of an episode of “24” with the cliff hanger airing on election day, August 2oth.  In in true television fashion we are left wondering what is the outcome-does Hamid Karzai remain for another term? Does Abdullah Abdullah pull of the stunning upset or does an upstart like Bashardost come in and spoil it all for all? Or perhaps, things simply limp along as usual with the outcome mattering very little to the average Afghan.  Today there  was another suicide bombing, this time in Langman Province with more dead, more wounded and many, many more frightened about their future. The violence continues unabated.  The ballot count goes on with Karzai hovering at his pre-election numbers of 45-46% but with his promise he will surge forward when the remainder of the ballots are counted-one wonders how he could be so sure, then sometimes it’s better not to ask. Meanwhile the allegations of fraud continue by all sides and in many cases it is hard to dispute these claims as more video evidence of ballot box stuffing emerges and we in the West wonder why we put such stock in this process.  The international community places such weight on the electoral process and inordinate importance on election day we often neglect what happens on the day after the election and was this the legitimacy that we envisioned? A significant element in any counterinsurgency strategy is a legitimate indigenous government that the population can trust to have their best interests at heart.  Today this is in question in Afghanistan as all candidates scramble for their portion of the prize one wonders what can the Afghan population claim as theirs?