PRT ZABUL: Who says Afghans don't believe in the ballot

UNCLAS KABUL 000083 KABUL FOR USFOR-A COS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA NSC FOR WOOD OSD FOR WILKES CG CJTF-101 POLAD SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM AF SUBJECT: PRT ZABUL: Who says Afghans don't believe in the ballot box? REF: Kabul 0063 Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) A community's appeal to the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction team to support voter registration in two outlying areas demonstrates that even conservative, rural Afghans recognize the power of elections to choose their own government. The district elders' ongoing attempts to establish remote registration sites indicate both the success of Phase 3 voter registration in Zabul province, as well as the shortcomings of the election official's planning and operations, and the behind-the-scenes politics that influence Zabul's election system. Working with the Afghan security forces and UNAMA, the PRT will facilitate a plan to bring a mobile registration team to the elders' villages in the spring. As noted in REFTEL, the Independent Election Commission plans to operate mobile teams in all provinces through July. The fact that these Afghans have faith in elections, and in ISAF and UNAMA to monitor the process, gives PRT a special charge to help in any way possible. "Voting is the Right of Every Afghan!" -------------- -- ¶2. (SBU) Traveling for up to 10 hours on single-lane, snow-covered dirt roads through Taliban country, 60 elders from the Shamulzai and Nawbahar districts in southern Zabul came to the provincial capital Qalat January 12 to advocate for their right to register and vote. It was not their first trip for this purpose - in December, they asked Provincial Election Officer (PEO) Qudratullah Naqashbandi to set up voter registration sites in two communities hours removed from the district centers where the main voter registration centers were located. The elders said that the PEO and his Shamulzai district field coordinator (DFC) Nisah - who is from Qalat, not Shamulzai -- promised to look into the possibility, but delayed their response until early January. The elders claim that despite security assurances from the tribal communities, and the Shamulzai police and army's willingness to move two of four district registration centers to Zanjir, the PEO refused, citing security concerns. (In October, the provincial Afghan security forces called that region one of Zabul's more dangerous, with only limited government presence.) ¶3. (SBU) A group of five elders - three from Zanjir in Shamulzai, and two from Lowgee in Nawbahar, called on the PRT January 12 after meeting with UNAMA's local head of office. The elders complained that the Shamulzai district center was hours from Zanjir, and the long journey essentially disenfranchised more than one thousand male voters who could not make the trip for financial or other reasons. Women traveling this far is out of the question. "Voting is the right of every Afghan. It's a basic human right and the government has the responsibility to make sure all Afghans can vote," they argued. Without a local registration center or a mobile registration visit, most residents of Zanjir would not be able to vote in the upcoming election. ¶4. (SBU) The two elders from Naubahar told a similar story - they had requested a voter registration site in Lowgee, three hours from the district center. The elders didn't know the name of the Nawbahar DFC, who never visited their area, and said they had no recourse other than to appeal to UNAMA and the PRT for assistance. ¶5. (SBU) The representatives had two main requests: 1) push the PEO and IEC to send a mobile voter registration team to the outlying population centers; and 2) ensure that for the election, there will be polling sites outside the district centers, particularly in their population centers. ¶6. (SBU) They also contended that voter registration and elections would be smoother if the district field coordinators and election officials were recruited from the district, not deployed from Qalat. Despite the fact that the transportation and lodging of teams of outsiders cause serious logistic heartburn for the ANA, ANP and district governors across the province during voter registration, the Zabul PEO has long argued to the PRT and others that there are not qualified "educated" workers available in the districts. However, the elders disputed that claim and said that the PEO simply refused to visit or recruit outside the provincial capital. (One Shamulzai elder spoke decent English, and both sets of elders presented the PRT computer-written letters in basic English, suggesting that there were indeed some literate people available outside Qalat.) Politics in the provincial election office? -------------- - ¶7. (SBU) The elders also alleged that PEO has political motivations to limit the number of voters from their district, which during the 2004 parliamentary elections did not support his political patron, and Member of the Lower House, Hamidullah Tukhi. (These elders are not the first to allege that PEO is closely tied to Tukhi. We have heard this from other government officials and NGO staff in Zabul.) They also suggested that the PEO's policy of recruiting and hiring workers primarily from Qalat supported his effort to control the elections. "Everyone in Zabul knows that two ballot boxes went missing from our district" in 2004 under PEO Qudratullah's watch, they said, indicating that the political stakes were high in their remote corner of the province. Next steps -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Although Phase 3 of voter registration ended in Zabul January 11, the PRT will work with the PEO, UNAMA and authorities in Kabul to determine a mechanism to allow these communities the chance to vote. The PEO's security concerns are real and must be addressed in cooperation with the Zabul police and Army, and a mobile team would likely not be deployed until the spring thaws allow more traffic in Shamulzai and Nawbahar districts. We will raise the issues about polling stations locations and local recruitment of workers with the PEO, as well as with regional and national election authorities to ensure that the concerns are addressed in transparent and open manner. Comment -------------- ¶9. (SBU) This is a good news story, despite the lack of a happy ending. The travails of one rural community trying to register to vote demonstrate that despite significant security threats in the district, people in Zabul have a real interest in choosing their leaders via the electoral process. Their saga also indicates the large amount of power that individual Provincial Election Officers have to influence the outcome of elections through registration and polling center placements. PRT will continue to engage the PEO and UNAMA to ensure that voting procedures, including logistics, are as transparent and equitable as possible. WOOD