Regards, Ivan
Posted on 08/20/2004 2:42:09 PM PDT by MadIvan
A DOCTOR yesterday became the first woman to campaign for the presidency of Afghanistan, with a pledge to disarm warlords “and break their tyranny”.
Less than three years after the overthrow of the Taleban, Massouda Jalal, a 41-year-old paediatrician, told a small crowd gathered in Borana, one of the poorest quarters of Kabul, the starting point of her campaign tour: “There will be justice and equal rights for all, man and woman alike, an end to discrimination and respect for every individual.”
The crowd, a mix of about 200 men and burka-covered women, listened quietly as she expounded her message. Few Afghans have any idea of what democracy or benevolent leadership involves so the manifesto was simple: enough rice for everyone, jobs for demobilised soldiers, clean drinking water and good healthcare.
Among the 18 nominees who face the nation’s electorate for the presidential vote on October 9, Dr Jalal is something of an anomaly for reasons beyond her gender alone: her hands are clean of past misdeeds and she has refused ever to share a political bed with a warlord, something that even the interim President Karzai cannot boast.
“Their votes and their protocol keep Karzai as president,” she said. “The day they stop supporting him he is finished.”
Originally from Badakshan in northern Afghanistan, her purist venture into the thieves’ market of Afghan electioneering suggests the makings of an unqualified political disaster.
Unlike other candidates, the bruque Dr Jalal has no military, political or organisational backing. Her campaign relies instead on the support of professors and intellectuals whom she and her husband, a law professor at Kabul University, have met while lecturing students.
However, her blameless reputation and the fact that she remained in Afghanistan throughout its turbulent war years have raised her profile against the odds.
In mid-2002 during the emergency loya jirga (meeting) designed to fill the power vaccum left by the demise of the Taleban, she was asked by President Karzai to be his deputy.
She refused, though came a distant second place to him in the vote for the transitional presidency.
Now, she says, President Karzai has again asked her to stand as one of his vice-presidents.
“I didn’t accept first time and I won’t now,” she says breezily. “I want the first place, not second. My refusals have created respect among the people. There are individuals running as candidates who have killed thousands and destroyed cities.
“The population see a woman saying no to political compromise as she respects the vote, and it moves them.” However much it may move voters, the attributes that set Massouda Jalal apart from her rivals, her integrity and womanhood, are likely to guarantee her downfall. Though voter registration has gone relatively smoothly, election day promises to be a fiesta of stuffed ballot boxes and rigged voting.
Factionalised by the 22 years of war, the majority of the dominant rural populace is likely to cast its vote for whomever their wakils, or community leaders, tell them to.
“I’ll vote as I’m told to,” said Farhid, an 18-year-old man who attended Dr Jalal’s small rally in Borana. “That’s the way it works around here.”
In simple terms that means that the more powerful candidates with warlord backing will pay or intimidate the wakils to guarantee their communities’ vote.
As Dr Jalal lacks money and dishonesty, any significant support for her will be pinched out at the ballot boxes.
Furthermore, Afghanistan’s traditional prejudice towards women seems an insurmountable political obstacle, especially in the Pashtun south of the country.
“I can’t stand her, she’s a Badakshi and an airhead,” said Abdul Qahir, a 22-year-old fireman as he strolled through Kabul’s Macrorayon district where Dr Jalal lives with her husband and three children.
“I’ll be honest with you,” he added, revealing sentiments common to many Afghan males. “It is shameful for us to vote for a woman.
“If my fiancée voted for her, I would beat her. My fiancée votes for who I tell her to.”
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
I'm glad I don't have to sell her life insurance.
“If my fiancée voted for her, I would beat her. My fiancée votes for who I tell her to.”
If the fiancee runs now she still has a chance. Can't say she'll do any better but......miracles happen.
"...election day promises to be a fiesta of stuffed ballot boxes and rigged voting.'
Geez, where's Jimbo when you need him?
Don't kid yourself, that isn't the way it works just in Afghanistan or the Arab world. It works that way among Muslims here in America as well as anywhere else there are Muslims. I got a chance to see up close how Muslim Albanians treat their women here in America (they are told what to do). I am sure it's even more extreme in the arab community. They are conditioned and few exceptions suffer from battered women's syndrome. How else can you explain that they subject themselves to be practically slaves?
She should've grabbed second place while she had the chance. Get on the team, and then work from there.
They did a huge profile of her for the New York Times immediately after the liberation of Afghanistan and the formation of a provisional government.
If anyone wants to see the problems inherent in forming a pluralistic, democratic form of government in Afghanistan, they should rent Osama.
The most amazing aspect of that movie, other than the fact that the director did not cast-for the most part-professional actors, is that it was filmed within the same time frame as Operation Enduring Freedom.
The remnants of the Taliban were still skulking around that part of the country when director Siddiq Barmark decided to film there.
As hopeless as the situation seems at the present moment, I suppose that "Osama" is a sign that progress is possible, if enough talented, dedicated, courageous individuals decide to work for the advancement of a common cause.
In this case, the future prosperity of their homeland.
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