AGAINST THE ODDS, VOTER REGISTRATION UNDERWAY IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002896 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR JWOOD OSD FOR MCGRAW CG CJTF-101, POLAD, JICCENT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KDEM PGOV AF SUBJECT: AGAINST THE ODDS, VOTER REGISTRATION UNDERWAY IN NURISTAN REF: A. KABUL 2708 ¶B. KABUL 2851 ¶1. (SBU) Delayed in starting and still struggling across difficult terrain, Nuristan's voter registration process is nonetheless underway and going better than many observers expected. -------------- FROM HERE TO THERE -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Splayed across the jagged teeth of the Hindu Kush mountains, Nuristan remains the most remote corner of Afghanistan. The province borders Pakistan's tribal areas and is set apart by its unique language and ethnicity as well as the practical difficulties of life among peaks reaching 15,000 feet. ¶3. (SBU) The logistics officer of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in Nuristan on October 26 had two problems: how to get additional voter registration forms from Jalalabad, to meet demand beyond IEC headquarters' expectations, and how to get a replacement camera part from Kabul. In recent months trucks traveling the road into central Nuristan from the south, and along the rougher eastern road to the northeastern district of Bargi Metal, have come under frequent attack, while the safe western road ends before Mandol district at Dow Ab. Mixing voter registration materials in with a commercial shipment of rice and sugar, or detouring across and back the border with Pakistan, Abdulsamad mused, might be his best options. ¶4. (SBU) Abdulsamad's problems that day are typical for Nuristan. No road traverses the province from west to east across the mountain ranges. As Nuristan lacks cell phone coverage outside its capital Parun, and Thuraya satellite minutes are expensive and often inaccessible, in Kala Gush Abdulsamad was thinking through these problems largely on his own. Provincial Electoral Officer (PEO) Abdulwahab, Abdulsamad's boss, works out of an office in Parun, where the violence-prone Chapadara valley road up from the south simply stops. Abdulwahab's superiors and subordinates quietly agree that he is only a mediocre manager, and his decision to route materials into the dead-end of Parun after the September 27 attack on a truck carrying voter registration materials (REF A) contributed to delays in distribution. Voter registration opened late in all of Nuristan's eight districts, with delays from six to 18 days, and only after US forces responded to a late IEC request to provide essential air lift. The grateful IEC field operations director, Dr. Raheem, says he would like to nominate the PRT for an award. -------------- AHEAD UNDER FIRE -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The activities of shadowy anti-government or anti-coalition forces (REF B) have not dampened the enthusiasm of Nurgram district field coordinator (DFC) Abdulraham, or many of his fellow Nuristanis, for voter registration. A US convoy took RPG fire in the Titin valley on October 25, and Abdulraham was traveling the same road at almost the same time. Still, Abdulraham was willing only to be vague about security problems in Nuristan. "People are talking about the Taliban," he said, "but I only know about local criminals." Abdulraham prefers to focus on the positive. "Only a few people are absenting themselves from the political process" in support of insurgents, he says, while "many people support the government." He reports young Nuristanis, in particular, are turning out to register to vote. Popular demand is much of the reason IEC headquarters on October 27 agreed to add back the days of registration Nuristan voters lost when the opening of centers was delayed. Nuristani senator Hazrat Ali, reeling off a list of complaints about the Karzai administration, made the case plainly: "We want to choose our next president." ¶6. (SBU) Still, electoral officials and local leaders are frank about the political and logistical problems they see with the present elections cycle. Most expect turnout will be lower than in 2004 and 2005; last time, Abdulraham notes, "voter registration numbers affected how many seats our province would earn in the Lower House, and we knew this." In 2004, the Nurgram district governor says, people would KABUL 00002896 002 OF 002 walk six or seven hours to register and vote in Afghanistan's historic election, but "not this time." Local ministry line directors say they see less voter outreach and fewer of the local civic educators who best understand Nuristan's mosaic of tribes. Abdulraham reports that when his staff go house-to-house to enroll voters, women often say they must first ask their husbands if they can register -- a point he counters, but often in vain. Abdulraham also thinks the simpler, more durable materials and equipment for the previous elections were better suited to Nuristan's stark environment and the low technical skills of his workers. -------------- MAKING DO, MAKING A DIFFERENCE -------------- ¶7. (SBU) A variety of local leaders express frustration that, although desperately poor and vastly undeveloped, Nuristan is largely neglected by the central government. Mandol district presently has an outbreak of cholera, a signature disease of primitive conditions among the poor. These Nuristani leaders see themselves as left to make do with very little as they struggle to learn to work the levers of international aid. Hazrat Ali remarks, "Seven years later, the promises of the Bonn agreement are only 50 percent realized, and we understand also that only 50 percent of the international community's aid reaches us here." A district governor in turn sighs, "We elected our representatives to the legislature, and they did nothing." A technical advisor to the provincial government complains, "This government has a Pashtun face, but it favors the Northern Alliance." Education Ministry director Abdulmohammed proposes a humorous solution: "We need one mullah, one woman, and one technocrat in power in Kabul. Then we will get what we need." ¶8. (SBU) Despite these daunting odds, many Nuristanis appear ready to work for change. "Nuristanis do not have politics" like the partisan elites in Kabul, Nurgram's district governor opined. "They lack education, and they just want to work and to change their life." Several interlocutors agreed that Nuristanis want roads, the rule of law, local government, and protection from insurgents. DFC Abuldraham is ready to help keep open the option of peaceful change. To reach distant voters, he arranged for his team to travel to different villages, under the protection of local elders; he thinks his counterpart in Dow Ab cam also count on the valley's greybeards to protect the electoral process. Abdulraham proudly reports that the percentage of women registrants increased dramatically as a result of his outreach efforts. Similarly, to compensate for the lack of local radio to use for civic education programs, the province's DFCs came to the PRT to give PRT-sponsored Radio Kala Gush interviews to explain the process to voters. "I am confident the elections will be well-organized," Abdulraham concludes, "except perhaps in the Pashgar valley..." where fighters opposed to the government are present. WOOD