KABUL — The Taliban has written threats on leaflets passed out at mosques, whispered them in villages, proclaimed them to journalists and posted on the Internet: If you vote in today’s parliamentary elections, prepare to be attacked.
How many Afghans ignore this intimidation campaign and turn out at the polls will be one measure of whether the vote is considered a success.
The elections — the first since a fraud-ridden presidential poll a year ago — are seen as a test of the Afghan government’s commitment to rooting out corruption and as a measure of the strength of the insurgency.
Hanging in the balance is the willingness of the U.S.-led international coalition to continue supporting Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government with 140,000 troops and billions of dollars nearly nine years into the war.
On the eve of the balloting, the head of a voting center in southern Helmand province was killed when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb. A few hours later, a rocket struck Kabul. Both were reminders that the insurgent group usually makes good on its threats.
In the past two days, Taliban militants abducted 18 election workers from a house in northern Bagdhis province, and a candidate was kidnapped in eastern Laghman province. Coalition forces also detained an insurgent in eastern Khost province who was “actively” planning attacks during the elections, NATO said.
About 2,500 candidates are vying for 249 parliamentary seats, allocated among the 34 provinces according to population. A quarter of the legislative seats are reserved for women. Final results aren’t expected for weeks.
The Afghan parliament is relatively weak, so the outcome of the races is unlikely to change the workings of the government. Voters tend to select candidates of the same ethnic group and are often motivated mostly by a desire for patronage jobs or federal funds for a road or a school in their district.
The U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, told reporters in Islamabad on Friday that he knows the parliamentary elections will have plenty of problems.
“They’re going to be flawed,” Holbrooke said. “We’ve had experience in our country with flawed elections, and not in the middle of a war. We’re not looking for perfection here.”
He added: “You’ll want to look at how much the Taliban are able to disrupt” the balloting.
The Afghan government has installed extra checkpoints throughout the country and dispatched about 280,000 security forces to help secure polling stations.
Afghan security forces patrolled the mountains and hills that encircle Kabul on Friday to prevent insurgents from setting up rocket-firing points. Police used bomb-sniffing dogs while searching every car heading along main roads into the city.
Even in some of the most violent areas, however, some Afghans said fear would not stop them from voting.
In Kandahar, where the Taliban has waged an assassination campaign against government workers in recent months, some residents said they felt they wouldn’t have a right to complain about the outcome of the election if they didn’t cast a ballot.
Karzai urged citizens to vote despite the threats.
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2,500 candidates for 249 seats
What’s at stake? This is the first election since last year’s fraud-marred presidential vote and is considered a test of whether the government has instituted promised reforms and rooted out corrupt officials. The election will also be an indicator of the strength of the insurgency as NATO and Afghan forces work to secure polling stations in volatile areas amid Taliban threats.
Who’s running? About 2,500 candidates are vying for 249 parliamentary seats, allocated among the 34 provinces according to population. A quarter of the legislative seats are reserved for women. Final results aren’t expected for weeks.
Who’s voting? There are 17.5 million registered voters, out of a population of about 28 million. Turnout is expected to be low, and election officials say they expect to be able to accommodate 11.3 million voters casting ballots.
The Associated Press
