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8 Daikundi women contesting Wolesi Jirga polls

8 Daikundi women contesting Wolesi Jirga polls

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18 Sep 2018 - 18:32
8 Daikundi women contesting Wolesi Jirga polls
author avatar
18 Sep 2018 - 18:32

NEILI (Pajhwok): A number of women.

Although a satisfactory number of women had contested the previous elections in Daikundi province, there were unable to get more seats. In the upcoming polls, more women have registered to contest.

According to the provincial Independent Election Commission (IEC), eight women are standing in the Wolesi Jirga polls from Daikundi where more than 170,000 people, including 55 percent of them women, have registered as voters.

Still the number of registered female voters remains low in Daikundi owing to traditional norms and strict rules against women.

Daikundi has been granted four Wolesi Jirga seats including one specified for women, but female candidates claim they would get more seats through open competition with men.

They believe the increase in number of female candidates would strengthen them to stand against social injustices, protect their rights, end men’s superiority and truly unite people.

Fatema Akbari, one of the candidates, said: “The reason why I am contesting the upcoming elections is to discharge my responsibility that I have towards the people. I have decided to protect women’s rights and the ongoing injustices in the society.”

She believed she might not face any issue during her election campaign but she was concerned about propaganda by some political parties against her.

According to Akbari, most of the women contesting polls from Daikundi are independent and do not have association with any party.

“I want all political parties not to disturb public mind regarding women candidates and refrain from interfering in the polls to make sure free and fair conduct of the elections,” she said.

Rana Kamel, another woman candidate, said: “Looking at the geography and security of Daiknudi, election campaign is difficult for women because it is very simple to threaten your opponent without fear of government and women candidates are mostly affected by these circumstances.”

She stressed the IEC should treat all candidates equally and stop interference of powerful individuals and political parties.

Aziza Rezae, a student from Daikundi, said she would participate in the upcoming polls and cast her vote for a trusted candidate who could truly represent the people in the parliament.

She said election was a national process and all people regardless of their association with a specific tribe, ethnicity, sect and language.

Rezae said the bad security situation remained a challenge to women’s participation in elections, asking the government to ensure security of Daikundi women and women of other provinces so they could exercise their right to enfranchise.

Meanwhile, Zulaikha, 65, an uneducated woman who has registered as voter for the upcoming elections, said she had participated in many elections and she was satisfied from those she voted.

“I will also participate in the next elections and will vote for a woman because women can better represent their people compared to men,” she said. She said she encouraged all her family members to participate in elections.

On the other hand, Amanullah Fazli, IEC head in Daikundi, confirmed women’s participation in the voter registration process was higher compared to men in the province and said eight women and 31 men had nominated themselves to contest the upcoming Wolesi Jirga polls.

He said four women from Daikundi contested the previous Wolesi Jirga elections. “The IEC tries to provide equal services both to men and women according to the law,” Fazli added.

“We are trying to prevent any type of fraud in elections, we highly respect people’s votes as men and women have equal rights in elections,” he said. He said there were no problems that women nominees could face in Daikundi.

Women’s rights activists in Daikundi appreciated women candidacies in the Wolesi Jirga elections and said women’s presence in the government was important.

However, they expressed concern about misuse of women’s votes in favor of men candidates. They say women’s participation in Daikundi gas always been high compared to men but women voted for men due to unawareness, patriarchy and dependency.

Laila Hujjati, a women’s rights activist in Daikundi said: “I am very happy to see women are competing with men in the democratic system. By knowing the current situation, we really need more women in the parliament to defend the rights of other women.”

Zahra Andishmand, another women’s rights activist, said: “Women in Daikundi are not independent in casting their votes and that is the reason we are worried women would not win more seats in the Wolesi Jirga.”

A number of Daikundi residents say there is no obstacle for women to participate in elections.

Rahmatullah Shariati, a civil society activist, said: “We admit problems exist in some parts of Daikundi, but not at the level to prevent women from reaching the parliament, women here do not act independently for supporting their fellows.”

Mohammad Hamdard, a resident of Neili city, said: “Men and women are equal for us, we prefer meritocracy, fortunately a number of active women from Diakundi have nominated in the Wolesi Jirga elections. I am sure more than one woman would find their way to the parliament in the upcoming elections.”

Mohammad Ibrahimi, an Islamic scholar in Daikundi, said: “Political partnership is the right of every citizen, so women can also take part in the decision making areas particularly elections, but it should be based on Islamic rules.”

He said women were more sympathetic to their society and they could better play their role.

nh/mds/ma

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