2018 Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections Saturday Oct 20,2018

Afghanistan is holding parliamentary elections on Saturday Oct 20,2018 despite deep security concerns and ongoing fighting in as many as 20 out of the country’s 34 provinces.

An official from the Interior Ministry said the number of security forces was increased to 70,000 from 50,000 across the country to protect 21,000 polling stations.

The Elections were scheduled to be held in Afghanistan  on Oct 15,2016 to elect members of the House of the People, but were postponed to  July 07,2018 and then again to Oct 20,2018

SEATS, CANDIDATES AND POLLING STATIONS

There are 2,565 candidates vying for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, including 417 women candidates. Voters will be able to cast ballots at more than 19,000 polling stations in 32 provinces.
Of those, the elections commission says as many as 11,667 polling stations are reserved for men and 7,429 for women, while 46 will serve Afghan nomads, known as Kochis, and 22 will serve minority Sikhs and Hindus. The Kochis have 10 parliament seats reserved for them while the Sikhs and Hindus jointly have one seat.
However, security fears have forced the election commission to close about 2,000 polling stations.
MAJOR PLAYERS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
A few parties have emerged in opposition to the current national unity government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, but none can be considered major players as most candidates in the vote are running as independents.
Afghanistan’s parliament includes both a lower and an upper house, but only members of the lower house are directly elected. The upper house consists of a mixture of parliamentarians chosen from local councils and those appointed by the president, as well as members elected in district elections. Legislature passed in the lower house has to be approved by the upper chamber.
DISPUTE IN GHAZNI PROVINCE
Elections will not take place in eastern Ghazni province amid an ongoing dispute over how to divide its electoral constituencies to ensure a more balanced ethnic representation.
Lawmakers elected from Ghazni in 2010 will retain their seats until the province is able to hold a vote. In the last elections, eight years ago, minority Hazaras won all the seats from Ghazni, leaving majority Pashtuns and also Tajiks without representation as voting wasn’t held in their areas, which are mostly controlled by the Taliban.
ELIGIBLE VOTERS
Around 8.8 million people have registered to vote. Though there hasn’t been a census for more than 30 years, Afghanistan’s population is estimated to be more than 30 million.
In Afghanistan, where minorities are registered separately, they make up roughly 2 per cent of the 8.8 million Afghans who are registered to vote. The remaining 98 per cent of registered voters were divided according to gender with 64 per cent men and 34 per cent women. Many women do not register in conservative regions of the country.
SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS
Around 70,000 members of the Afghan security forces will be deployed to secure polling stations. Afghan officials have announced three levels of security belts at each polling centre. Police and members of the intelligence force will make up the first two belts, covering a distance of 3 to 5 kilometres (1.8 to 3 miles) from polling centres. The third security belt will be patrolled jointly by police and the Afghan army.
TALIBAN WARNINGS
The Taliban, who have been fighting Afghan and NATO forces for more than 17 years, have condemned the elections and warned candidates and Afghan security forces they would be targeted. They have also warned teachers and students not to participate in the elections and not to allow schools to be used as polling centres.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
The Afghan government is keen to prove it’s capable of holding these elections despite prevailing security challenges. The vote was originally scheduled for 2015 but the situation was too unstable at the time. Politically, there was a crisis following the 2014 presidential elections, and NATO forces had only just handed over security to Afghan forces at the end of 2014.
Now, the government wants to send a message to the Taliban _ who are engaging in separate negotiations with the United States on a possible political settlement that its institutions are functioning, and that if the Taliban decide to come to the negotiating table, they will have to deal with a government and a political process that’s acceptable to the majority of Afghans.