Afghanistan: UN envoy says extremists cannot stop polls or new political culture
Hailing the “unmistakable confirmation” that a new political culture is emerging in Afghanistan, which holds landmark
legislative elections tomorrow, the senior United Nations envoy to the country said today he was confident that
extremists have failed in their attempts to derail the polls.
Jean Arnault, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, told reporters today at a press briefing
in Kabul that despite a series of deadly attacks during the election campaign, “Afghans will not let anything stop them
from participating.”
More than 10 million Afghans are registered to vote in tomorrow’s elections for a national parliament and provincial
councils, which are being staged four years after the demise of the notorious Taliban regime and a quarter century of
war and misrule in the Asian country.
Mr. Arnault said he has witnessed signs of increasing pluralism, greater freedom of assembly and opinion, and the
involvement of women – whose rights were severely curtailed under the Taliban – as both candidates and voters.
“A sense that the legacy of the rule of the gun can be resisted is now taking root,” he said, noting that Afghans have
already successfully elected a transitional authority, adopted a national constitution and then elected a president.
But he also expressed outrage at the violence by extremists in the election campaign, including deadly attacks last
night on police and security forces. Three police officers were killed when they were ambushed during a patrol just
south of Kabul.
Mr. Arnault said reconstruction and security continues to lag behind the political advances being made, and the
international community must do more to ensure they keep pace with Afghanistan’s increasing democratization.