Afghanistan’s journey on the rocky road of democracy has hit another milestone as the results of the country’s presidential elections are pouring in. According to initial results, President Ashraf Ghani is leading in the September 28 election, and as was expected, his rival Abdullah Abdullah has refused to accept the results citing election fraud in polling and ballot count. Preliminary results originally due on October 19 were repeatedly delayed for technical reasons, invoking allegations of fraud from various candidates. According to the Afghan election commission, the turnout in the presidential election was more than 1.8 million, which is not massive, but these voters braved threats by the Taliban. Of the polled votes, Ghani secured 50.64 per cent, which gives him a comfortable lead to win the first round over his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah. The war-torn country had to delay the polls for months while militants wreaked havoc with bombings and target killing.
Pakistan has welcomed the continuity of the process of elections and promised that it will continue supporting Afghanistan’s democratic process, which is vital for political stability of the country. Pakistan remained short of congratulating Ghani, but the president has already made his victory speech. “With the announcement, we are moving now from darkness to light and from uncertainty to a bright future,” he told a jubilant crowd gathered at the presidential palace in Kabul. On the other hand, the US has also extended a measured response to the results.
“It is important for Afghans to remember these results are preliminary. Many steps remain before final election results are certified, to ensure the Afghan people have confidence in the results,” John Bass, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, said in a post on Twitter.
Afghanistan has seen much bloodbath but a peaceful disagreement on election results should not plunge the country into turmoil again. Abdullah Abdullah’s allegations regarding poll fraud should be investigated. At the same time, his supporters who blocked the road to the election commission should only adopt democratic practices to record their protest. This is not the first time such controversy has arisen out of Afghan elections. In 2014, both Ghani and Abdullah alleged massive fraud by the other. Then the United States intervened and brokered an odd power-sharing formula. The arrangements under which Ghani was elected president and Abdullah chief executive worked smoothly for five years.
Let us see if the country will go for another power-sharing formula or result-based government
Houbara bustarad killing license
There is bad news for the helpless houbara bustard as the federal government has granted permission to kill them to King of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al Khalifa and five other royal family members. Last week, Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the Gulf country and was decorated with the highest award to boost friendship between the two brotherly countries. It seems that the migratory birds bond the Gulf rulers with Pakistan. Over the years, the number of these birds has declined due to ruthless killing, mainly by royal families of Gulf, despite the outcry of nature and wildlife protection activists. The flocks of birds fly from the colder central Asian region every year southwards to winter in Pakistan because of its relatively warm environment. The endangered bird is protected under various international nature conservation conventions and local wildlife protection laws. Retired chief justice Saqib Nisar had tried in vain to protect the helpless bird in 2015 but later the court allowed the government to take independent decisions on hunting permits viewing the economic backwardness of the people living around sanctuaries. Under the permit, a hunter is allowed to hunt a certain number of houbara bustards in specific days but the royal guests often flout rules and once they start hunting, no one can stop them. Under the fresh permits, the royal family has been allotted Jamshoro district (including Thano Bula Khan, Kotri, Manjhand and Sehwan tehsils), Sujawal district’s Shah Bunder tehsil, Naushahro Feroze, Jaffarabad, Sujawal district’s Jati tehsil, Tando Mohammad Khan, Hyderabad and Malir (excluding Malir Cantonment and Dhabeji areas) districts.
Other royals than Bahraini also land in Pakistan to shorten the lives of houbara bustards. In all, our part of the world has not been a good host to migratory and local wildlife in sanctuaries and zoos. So often, helpless animals die in zoos, and most facilities have become graveyards of animals due to the lack of checks and balances. Islamabad and its adjacent areas are natural habitat to a variety of bird species but unfortunately they have been gradually vanishing due to thick urbanisation. Earlier this year, the Punjab government had planned to use technology as the best saviour of wildlife in its sanctuaries and defeat gangs of poachers. It won praise from pro-animal circles for introducing information technology (IT), solar system and drone cameras to track and arrest gangs of poachers and improve promotion of breeding and protection of the wildlife in the vast desert area of Cholistan. Sadly, these measures are for local hunters, while overseas hunters have free rein to kill birds.
