The Afghan Perspective of Governmental Structures and Political Processes:
Analyzing Afghanistan’s Potential to Develop Through Effective Formation and Operation of Government
Why do Afghans Identify So Little with Political Parties Even though the Spectrum of Parties is So Wide?
Which Candidate From the Recent Election Has a Better Plan on Rebuilding Afghanistan?

Aimal Pahrand
December 10, 2014

Abstract
With U.S.-led NATO forces exiting Afghanistan in 2016, Afghan stability relies on the strength, capacity, validity, and permeability of Afghan governance. Although the size and overall adequacy of the Afghan governing structure has increased drastically since the fall of the Taliban regime, the government remains prevalent with corruption as political and ethnic tensions among its major subdivisions remain present.
The recent election showed that Afghans still vote according to ethnicity. The Pashtun population heavily favored Dr. Ashraf Ghani, advisor of the Bonn process and Finance Minister to former president Hamid Karzai’s erratic administration. Alternative candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, former foreign minister in the Karzai administration and Secretary General of the Masood foundation as well as United Front’s Minister of Foreign affairs during the Taliban regime, was heavily favored by non-Pasthun voters. Ghani’s victory led to a huge backlash due to claims of fraudulent voting, which forced the two candidates to f ormally signing a power-sharing agreement in which Ghani was announced the election winner while Abdullah became the Chief Executive Officer of the government. The CEO is to function as a prime minister, pending a subsequent national deliberation over changing the constitution to create a formal prime ministerial post.
The Afghan Constitution emphasizes significant power in the presidency; nonetheless Ghani’s overall authority will be constrained by the power-sharing arrangement with Abdulllah. The resolution however paved the way for the signing of formal agreements, which allow U.S. and NATO troops to carry on an international mission to train Afghan forces and conduct counter-terrorism operations.

Role of Political Parties In Future Development
Afghanistan has more than 50 officially registered parties and numerous movements occupying its political landscape. In many other countries it seems like the government and society stress the importance of political parties for political systems and their role throughout their past and present day politics has been substantial. This often leaves me with the same question—why is it that Afghan politicians identify so little with political parties even though the spectrum of parties is so wide?
Political parties are allowed in the Afghan Constitution but its allegiances differ in Afghanistan, because of its division. The Afghan population believes that political parties appeal to memories of communist rule in the country’s past and in conclusion, oppose national interest and unity. This view is understandable. In the eyes of Afghan Citizens the idea of political parties led to the 1980’s and 1990’s civil wars, which led to the slow destruction of the city of Kabul. The top priority for Afghan political parties needs to be the pursuit of political objectives, but in ways that break negative affiliations with the past and thus, win the confidence of the Afghan people. Most citizens want long-term political development and stability—and political parties are an effective way of holding the government accountable to society’s demands.
Current law and procedure makes it hard for most candidates for office to identify themselves as members of parties when seeking election. Due to these policies, multiple foreign consultant assemblies steer clear from party politics. Among those trying to increase the role of political parties is CEO Dr. Abdullah Abdullah who raised the possibility of direct election of governors, who are presently appointed by the president, and more general issues of federalism versus regionalism. The current single non-transferable vote for parliament, in which top vote getters in a province win an election, may need to be reconsidered in favor of stronger roles for parties, for districts as opposed to provinces, or both. The issue of whether or not, or how, regions should become a central focus for commercial and university advancement and transport networks is critical to Afghanistan’s future. Afghans have the opportunity to build successful political system, but in order to do so, Afghanistan must learn the lessons of its past, as well as look outside the country to learn from countries where political transitions have succeeded.
Afghan Parliament Afghan Parliament’s actions have focused more on the elements of personal appointments, power, and advocacy instead of ideas of political agendas. The parliament has financial and organizational difficulty creating blocs of members capable of effectively wielding political muscle. There needs to be at least two major reforms in parliament. One would have the goal to strengthen the body’s ability to construct and evaluate new politics, one of which being legislation. A second change that could be done is to increase the strength of parliament’s technical capability to acknowledge changes in policy. In the aftermath of the Watergate era, United States has four divisions in its congress. Afghanistan does not need nor can afford three of four bodies of congress. But any kind of Afghan parliament Research Service, with several dozen researchers in different fields, led by someone whose term is not concurrent with members. Its formal publications could be available to the public, given parliament’s role as a representative of the people. The parliament however can only advance so much without better means of organizing its members, which goes back to the lack of organization in political parties mentioned earlier.
Ashraf Ghani Economic Program
Both Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah have their own ideas, as leaders, and economic programs for Afghanistan. The problem is since both share equal power. Neither is ready to sacrifice their policies for the advancement of the other. Ashraf Ghani believes Afghanistan’s economic programs should center on economic revival and creation of employment opportunities. Ghani states in an interview with Sanjay Kumar, that one of his first goals accomplished as President was to regularly have “meetings of the National Economic Council so that we can address the issues of national unemployment—and in the process we are going to change the character of the national government.” Ghani goes on to strategically refer to Afghanistan as “our war-torn” country in order to connect to Afghan Citizens in a way of saying “this is our country. It wasn’t until after he made a personal connection with the Afghan society and its people, that he brought up the topic of how the three majorities of “our” country are now considered minorities from political and economic views. Ghani is referring to the Youth, the Poor, and the Women. Under Ghani’s system the Youth are labeled as the dominant majority of Afghan society whose number is “ever increasing but receiving few employment opportunities” Those in poverty do not deal with the region, locality, or language—but instead the poor are a threat to public welfare under the Ghani economic model. The Women in Afghanistan, although advancing steadily each year in women’s rights and overall purpose in society, are still considered a silent majority who bear the toughest of work while most don’t receive a direct financial income. Not to mention, society gives little importance to their work.
When looked at in an economical point of view, the three political minorities should be converted in a potential majority and every youth, poor, and woman of Afghan society should consider themselves the owners of Afghanistan and be assured that the future of Afghanistan is in their hands. Fundamental changes need to be brought about in government, economic, and social structures through which a prestigious life will be achieved for the citizens of Afghanistan. In order to achieve our national goals, the government must perform well in many diverse subdivisions. The first of which is providing a favorable environment since the most important duty of the government is to protect the law. Free market in dynamic economies always deals under protection of the law because in human deals small and big problems are always expected. An investors first concern when investing in a country is the potential benefit that can be earned in the coming 5, 15, or 20 years. Protection of private ownerships is a second major part of the rule of law that directly affects the economy. Any lack of protection in ownership and manipulation of people by corruption will slowdown the economic growth. In order for right of ownership to be determined, an authorized judicial structure needs to be created that includes the civil society and people. To abate or remove the debates, disputes, and to prevent bribery, a transparent monitoring of the documentations should be implemented. Ghani argues that a “computerized system should be developed for the registration of documents so; our citizens will be familiar with the legal value of their documents.”. The Government’s security of documents provides investors with trust and confidence that will be used in the future to build relationships with big time investors.
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah’s Economic Program
As CEO of Afghanistan, Abdullah stresses more on the actual role of the economy, along with trade and commerce. Abdullah argues that the role of economy in social, cultural, security, and political life of a nation is very important, as long as expansion and development could not be seen without a good and powerful economy. That being said, a significant responsibility of the government consists of the planning, drafting, and implementation of those programs that can make permanent development and persuasive economy in their own circle. The current economic system in Afghanistan allows for it to have market economy, but economic development under this system will not be achievable without security and good governance, which is regulated by rule of law. There is no concise definition for this Afghani system. This open economy system is based on historical, social, and economic growth.
Abdullah believes Afghanistan’s problem in the past years was not in the selection of this system, but in fact its implementation. His system involves drastic reformation of existing rules and regulations centered on heavy supervision of the consultation and coordination with its private sectors. Ghani believes that it is necessary to interfere in the market when needed, to facilitate the ground for multi domestic and foreign companies inside and outside the country. The goal in this division of Abdullah’s economic model is to commercialize the governmental enterprises that are able to be self-sufficient with little investment and attention.
Programs with regard to industrial development include the drafting and implementation of new tariff policies. This provides taxation immunity for newly established factories and production companies lasting anywhere from 5-10 years and exempts all machineries and equipment’s from any kind of tax or tariff. Abdullah’s industrial strategies encourages outside companies to create industries in Afghanistan.
Abdullah also addresses issues in trade and commerce highlighted by the creation and facilitation for growth and development of free trade. This is will be done by assuring security within the country, especially on highways, and the rebuilding and reconstructing of all highways to create round routes that connects the country to neighbor countries. Also, Abdullah stresses the importance of improving Afghanistan’s railway system through the encouragement of private investments in the transportation and transit insurance services.

Ghani & Abdullah: A Comparison Dr. Ashraf Ghani is perceived as a Pashtun academic with no jihadist history. The Middle class of urban Afghanistan, specifically in Kabul, favor him, mostly because they were the ones who suffered most under the Mujahedeen rule post 1992. Islamists still hold a crucial sway over the large percentage of conservative Afghan society, especially outside the city of Kabul. This is seen as one reason why Ghani has undergone a change of image in which he performed Hajj Pilgrimage, growing a beard, and re-adopting his tribal name “Ahmadzai”. It seems like the realities of Afghanistan have caught up to him, Abdullah, contrary to Ghani, seems to be very confident in this regard. He knows he has nothing to prove as far as authentic conservative Afghan image is concerned. His association with the Mujahideen movement has given him a much-increased leverage to perform progressively, signaling change without having to struggle for acceptance. From a sociopolitical view, the two leaders exhibit distinct features, though at this stage one can hardly see notable differences between their political platforms. Ghani has no experience in Afghanistan before 2001, so he does not carry the same burden as Abdullah. For Abdullah and his team it means that they would have to make double the effort compared to Ghani, to showcase that he can properly represent the interest of the Afghan people and is eager to work for stability. The history of the Mujahideen movement is contradictory, much like any other past Afghan movement. It has produced its own dissidents, critics, and victims. This allowed the rise of a strong civil society, a competitive and critical medical landscape, not yet pluralistic, but on the path to it. Ghani does not bring this controversial dynamic along with him, making all of the above dynamics much less likely. Ghani seems to be an outsider, who neither experienced the Soviet-Afghan war, nor the tragic destruction of Kabul as a result of inter-Mujahideen wars, nor did he experience the prelude to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Because of his professional career however, Ghani is the better leader in terms of security and economics. Ghani is far more likely to create successful countermeasures to dampen the probable recession of the Afghan economy with the withdrawal of NATO troops in 2016. Ghani has a clear understanding on the importance of attracting foreign investment and maintaining current investments. Afghanistan’s business sector has been built with heavy dependency on the presence of foreign forces. With the withdrawal of NATO troops approaching, the risk of investment relocation and investment reluctancy in Afghanistan’s business and service sectors are high. Ghani’s economic model, centered around protection of law and private ownership, has a stronger focus on ensuring current and future investors their money is safe in Afghanistan.
Conclusion
The bottom line that many Afghans inside and outside Afghanistan are emphasizing on, and cannot exaggerate enough, is that Afghanistan experienced its biggest achievement in its recent elections. 60% of the eligible Afghan population came out to vote, its process was carried on peacefully, and the constitution was respected. The Afghan people took ownership of their democratization process, shedding hope that Afghanistan will one day have a stabilized government.

Works Cited

Abdullah, Abdullah. Afghanistan Presidential Candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah Economic Programs (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

Baryalay, Maryam. "Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah." Tolo News. N.p., 12 June 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.

Baryalay, Maryam. "Pluralism and Political Parties in Afghanistan." Pluralism and Political Parties in Afghanistan. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.

Birkle, Gretchen, Michael O'Hanlon, and Hassina Sherjan. Toward a Political Strategy for Afghanistan (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

Ghani, Ashraf. Afghanistan Presidential Candidate Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmad Zai Economic Programs (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

Katzman, Kenneth. Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance. Ft. Belvoir: Defense Technical Information Center, 2010. Web.

Khalizad, Zalmay. "How Political Parties Can Help Build the New Afghanistan." How Political Parties Can Help Build the New Afghanistan. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.

Kumar, Sanjay. "Interview: Ashraf Ghani." Interview: Ashraf Ghani. N.p., 2 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.

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