I am a member of the Loya Jirga’s
silent majority – or rather, silenced majority – who came to Kabul
expecting to shape our nation’s future but instead find ourselves being
dragged back into the past.
We came from all parts of the
country to claim our freedom and democracy, but instead are being met
with systematic threats and intimidation aimed at undermining our free
choice. We came strengthened by international declarations on human
rights, but instead are facing international complicity in the denial of
our rights. We came to represent the diverse interests of the entire
Afghan nation, 1,500 delegates for 25 million people, but instead are
being pressured to support the narrow agenda of warlords and their
foreign sponsors. We came to inaugurate an inclusive and professional
transitional government, but instead are being compelled to rubberstamp
the Bonn Agreement’s unjust power-sharing arrangements.
The fundamental question we face
is this: will the new government be dominated by the same warlords and
factional politics responsible for two decades of violence and impunity,
or can we break with this legacy and begin to establish a system of law
and professional governance?
The Afghan people have spoken
clearly on this issue. I recently participated in a UN-commissioned
assessment mission by the Center for Economic and Social Rights, a human
rights group based in New York. Our report documents widespread
agreement among all Afghans, from urban professionals to landless
farmers, that there should be no role for warlords in the country’s
future, and that international aid will be wasted unless the underlying
conditions of peace and security are first established.
The same consensus holds in the
Loya Jirga. I estimate that at least 80% of delegates favor excluding
all warlords from the government. The 200 women delegates are
especially outspoken on this issue. In a spontaneous display of
democracy, they publicly rebuked two powerful symbols of Afghanistan’s
violent past – Burhannudin Rabbani, former President of the Mujahideen
government from, and Gen. Mohammed Fahim, former intelligence
chief during this period and currently Defense Minister in the interim
government.
But due to behind-the-scenes
pressure, our voices are being silenced and the warlords empowered. Let
me give some concrete examples.
When the Loya Jirga opened,
support for former King Zahir Shah was extremely strong. Rather than
address the issue democratically, almost two days of the six-day Loya
Jirga were wasted while a parade of high-level officials from the
interim government, the United Nations, and the United States visited
Zahir Shah and eventually “persuaded” him to publicly renounce his
political ambitions.
When the Loya Jirga recommenced,
the delegates were surprised to see Afghanistan’s thirty provincial
governors, none of whom were elected to serve in the grand assembly. It
soon became apparent that their purpose was to serve as arm-twisters for
the interim government, which is dominated by warlords from the Northern
Alliance. “You are all with me. You will do as I tell you to do. If you
dare not to follow me we all go back to our province after this [Loya
Jirga], don’t we?”, is a direct quote from a governor to the delegates
of his province.
These men controlled less than 10%
of the country before the fall of the Taliban, and therefore have little
direct influence over most Loya Jirga members, especially those from
rural areas in the South, East and West. The governors, on the other
hand, are able to leverage their local military and financial power to
pressure delegates from their provinces to support handpicked candidates
allied to the Northern Alliance. Their persuasive abilities are
enhanced by scores of Interior Ministry agents who are circulating
throughout the Loya Jirga compound and openly intimidating outspoken
delegates.
Equally discouraging is the role
played by the involved international organizations and the expectations
set forth by them. An adviser to UN chief Lakhdar Brahimi told me in no
uncertain terms that the Loya Jirga was not aimed to bring about
fundamental political changes like ridding the government of warlords.
Meanwhile, Zalmay Khalilzad, US Special Envoy on Afghanistan, has caused
some disappointment in the Loya Jirga through pressure tactics aimed at
undercutting popular support for Zahir Shah.
The Loya Jirga is being treated as
a ratification tool for backroom political deals. As one example, the
media has reported on the “voluntary” decision of Interior Minister
Yunus Qanooni to drop his candidacy. But it is not being reported that
he will assume an equally powerful post in the new government, or that
his intended replacement is himself a member of Qanuni’s Northern
Alliance faction (as is Fahim and Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah).
On the first day of the Loya
Jirga, we were filled with hope and enthusiasm. Most of us stayed up
past midnight in spirited debates about the country’s future. By the
third day, a palpable demoralization has set in. Our time is being
wasted on trivial procedural matters. We feel manipulated and
harassed. Our historic responsibility to the Afghan nation is becoming
a charade.
We are in Kabul because we believe
that participation and democracy are more than words on paper. We are
not asking for much, after all. Simply the right to determine our own
government and future in accordance with the human rights ideals so
loudly trumpeted by the international community. The same rights as all
other people.