Will history repeat itself in Afghanistan? British military intervention in Afghanistan has a chequered history, making it easy to conclude that British forces will fail again
Afghanistan Preliminary Election Result 2014 With 100 % Vote Count
Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai try to catch leaflets during an election campaign in Kunduz province, northern Afghanistan March 19, 2014. The Afghan presidential elections will be held on April 5. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood
MZR01. Mazar-e-sharif (Afghanistan), 30/03/2014.- Afghan Presidential candidate Gul Agha Sherzai (L) prays during an election campaign in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, 30 March 2014. The presidential vote has been slated for 05 April but campaigning has been marred by violence, with the Taliban vowing to disrupt the elections. Former World Bank official Ahmadzai is the favourite to win Afghanistan's presidential election, according to an opinion poll by a Kabul-based research group. EFE/EPA/SAYED MUSTAFA
KDR03. Kandahar (Afghanistan), 30/03/2014.- Afghan presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, speaks to supporters during an election campaign in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 30 March 2014. The presidential vote has been slated for 05 April but campaigning has been marred by violence, with the Taliban vowing to disrupt the elections. EFE/EPA/MUHAMMAD SADIQ
Afghan presidential candidate Abdul Rassoul Sayyaf (C) arrives during an election gathering in Herat Province March 25, 2014. REUTERS/ Mohammad Shoib
Afghan presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul (C) and his two vice presidential candidates, Ahmad Zia Massoud (L) and Habiba Surabi, attend an election rally in Mazar-I-Shariff, northern Afghanistan, March 27, 2014. The Afghan presidential elections will be held on April 5.REUTERS/Ahmad Masood
Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, center, arrives at a campaign rally in Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 27, 2014. Eight Afghan presidential candidates are campaigning for the third presidential election. Elections will take place on April 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Primary List of Provincial Council Candidates 2014
The eye-catching campaign symbols of Afghan candidates
Source:
AFP
By:
Radios, parachutes, laptops, the Koran, digger: The symbols used by Afghan election candidates
Kabul: Parachute or laptop computer? Sunrise or binoculars? Five days before polling, Afghan voters are spoilt for choice as they prepare to make their selection from an oddball array of candidates' symbols.
The designs help illiterate voters differentiate between hundreds of contenders standing in presidential and provincial council elections on April 5, a decade after the first polls of the country’s post-Taliban era.
Ballot papers have options ranging from the humble kettle and the sacred prayer mat to an office chair, a fearsome lion, an elegant butterfly and even a basketball net.
Other eye-catching designs include paint brushes, nan bread, a calculator, a ladder, parrots, a pencil sharpener and a sailboat in full rig.
The symbols are decided through a mixture of candidate preferences and allocation by the Independent Election Commission (IEC), which is organising the vote.
Eight candidates in the race to succeed President Hamid Karzai have launched nationwide poster campaigns that prominently feature their personal symbol.
“We chose the radio because each Afghan family has at least one radio in their home, and it is the key source of information in the villages,” Javed Faisal, spokesman for leading presidential hopeful Zalmai Rassoul, said.
“Our symbol shows that we believe people should know about the candidates, their manifestos and their policies. It also means we believe in democracy, freedom of speech and the media.”
Before the campaign began in early February, all the presidential teams gathered at the IEC to select their symbols, with Mr Rassoul given the choice between an umbrella and a radio, according to his officials.
Ashraf Ghani stuck to the same symbol as in his unsuccessful 2009 campaign — the Quran holy book, which might be perceived as an unfair choice in a devout Muslim nation such as Afghanistan.
“We have not heard any complaints,” Hamidullah Farooqi, a member of Ghani’s campaign team, told AFP.
“If anyone thinks our sign is problematic, I think that is un-Islamic of them. This nation has huge respect for the Quran.
“The commission gave candidates the chance if they wanted to have their own signs, and we took advantage of this opportunity.”
One runner who certainly embraced the idea was Gul Agha Sherzai, who glories in his nickname of “the bulldozer”, which he earned for pushing though major road and infrastructure projects — as well as for his forceful personality.
“Sherzai is the champion of construction in Afghanistan,” said Fraidoon Kakar, his spokesman, explaining the team’s symbol of a smart yellow bulldozer.
“He earned the nickname when he worked day and night to finish the road from Kabul to Laghman in 28 days. As governor of Nangarhar he spent millions of dollars and built most of the roads that exist today.”
In contrast, Abdullah Abdullah, a front-runner this year who came second in 2009, went for a sober pen and paper.
“It shows culture, thought, ability and civilisation,” said campaign spokesman Sayed Fazil Sancharaki. “We got it in the lottery, and we liked it, and had no objection.”
While Mr Karzai’s brother Qayum Karzai (pencil) and Abdul Rahim Wardak (dove and two swords) have dropped out since the ballot papers were printed, those still in the race include Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf (oil lamp) and Hedayat Amin Arsala (head of wheat).
The simultaneous elections for council seats in Afghanistan’s 34 provinces demand plenty of imagination to dream up symbols for each candidate, with 457 people running in Kabul province alone.
Among the highlights are ladders, cassette tapes, buckets, envelopes, footballs, satellite dishes, petrol pumps and hair combs.
“We had a specific person to do this job,” election commission spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor said.
“Using a big archive that we have developed from previous elections and from elsewhere, we gave each provincial candidate five options and they could choose one.
“In the presidential race, it was more flexible. If they wanted, they could bring their own symbol which we then checked.
“There haven’t been any complaints, so the system has worked well.”
Other developing countries also use election symbols, including Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh and India, where carrots, chessboards and violins have been among the designs deployed to tempt the electorate.
Afghan polls have often been targeted by militants and the 2014 campaign has seen several suicide attacks in Kabul against election offices, a luxury hotel and compounds where foreigners live.
The next Afghan president must struggle to bring peace to the country despite the Taliban insurgency and the departure of 53,000 US-led combat troops by the end of this year.
In a country where fewer than half of voters are literate, ballots for an upcoming election take on a more pictorial form.
A bulldozer. A radio. A pencil. A Koran. These are just a few of the candidates vying to win Afghanistan's upcoming presidential election.
For each of the 10 candidates expected to be on the ballot for the April 5 vote, there is a symbol. And those symbols will be printed on ballot papers alongside the name and photograph of each candidate to help voters choose their preferred candidate.
The idea is to make voting easier for the many eligible voters in the country who cannot read. Only 39 percent of Afghanistan's adult population is literate.
In keeping with elections dating back to 2004, the country's Independent Election Commission (IEC) initially assigned a symbol to each potential candidate assuming that there would be a high number of contenders to choose from.
(This approach caused problems during general elections in neighboring Pakistan this spring, where some candidates took umbrage at the symbols they were assigned.)
However, after the IEC eliminated 17 hopefuls from the running, only 10 remained from the list of vetted candidates announced on October 22. This freed up the IEC to allow candidates to choose their own symbols, pending approval.
The use of symbols will not be limited to presidential candidates. Those running in provincial elections, which will also be held on April 5, had to choose from one of three symbols offered to them. Overall, there were more than 5,000 possible symbols, including everything from a ladder, television set, and ice-cream cone to a bicycle.
Here is a list of leading candidates and their respective symbols:
Bulldozer
Presidential hopeful Gul Agha Sherzai, a former governor of both Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces, opted for a bulldozer to match his nickname, earned for his hard-hitting style and reputation for getting things done.
During his time as governor of Nangarhar, the former warlord completed a series of daunting infrastructure projects in recorded time, including building a network of paved roads, installing solar-powered street lights in urban centers, and reconstructing the presidential palace in the provincial capital, Jalalabad.
Scales Of Justice
Qutbuddin Helal, a prominent member of the Hezb-e Islami faction, led by notorious jihadist leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, chose the scales of justice as his symbol.
His choice has raised eyebrows. Hekmatyar has been blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist and his Hezb-e-Islami faction, currently fighting against international and Afghan security forces, has been accused of committing some of the worst human-rights abuses that occurred during Afghanistan's 1990s civil war.
Koran
Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister and World Bank official, chose the Koran as his symbol.
It is unclear why, exactly, he chose the Koran. But the Western-educated technocrat could be looking to show voters his religious side. Afghanistan is one of the world's most deeply religious and conservative countries and some Afghans could be wary of a candidate with ties to the West.
Ultimately, however, Ghani could have to make another choice. In the past, symbols of cultural, religious, or historical importance have been ruled out on the basis that they could give candidates an unfair advantage.
Afghan Flag
Abdul Rasul Sayyaf is an Egyptian-trained cleric who is credited with bringing leading Al-Qaeda figures -- including former leader Osama bin Laden -- to Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.
He picked the Afghan flag as his symbol, perhaps in an attempt to showcase his patriotism and overcome the perception among voters that he has strong connections with foreigners.
But his choice, too, could be overruled, seeing as the flag is an official symbol of the Afghan state.
Pencil
Qayum Karzai, the older brother of outgoing President Hamid Karzai, has smartly adopted the pencil as his logo.
Qayum is a prominent technocrat who was educated in the United States. He has stressed the important role education can play in developing the country and putting it on the road to prosperity.
Book And Pen
Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, has also adopted a symbol of education.
Abdullah is a qualified eye surgeon and the 2009 election runner-up has often spoken about the importance of education.
Wheat
Hedayat Amin Arsala, a former finance minister, has gone with wheat, a symbol of abundance and prosperity. Arsala, who was educated in the United States, is an economist by trade. His choice may be designed to show off his economic credentials.
Peace
Abdul Rahim Wardak, a former minister of defense, who most recently served as a security adviser to the president, chose an Islamic peace symbol.
A white dove, with wings spread, is flanked by two swords. The emblem reads "Allahu Akbar," or "God Is Great."
During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, Wardak was the leader of one of the Islamist Mujahedin groups fighting the Afghan communist regime and its Soviet backers.
Radio
In what appears to be an odd choice for a candidate known to be soft-spoken, former Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasul chose a radio as his symbol. Rasul kept away from the public eye for much of his time as a presidential adviser and minister. Might the radio reflect his desire to reach out to the Afghan public?
Peace Doves
Prince Mohammad Nader Naim appears to have chosen three doves -- a symbol of peace. Naim is the grandson of former King Zaher Shah. Naim was a close aide to the former monarch, who died in Kabul in 2007.
A bulldozer. A radio. A pencil. A Koran. These are just a few of the candidates vying to win Afghanistan's upcoming presidential election. 