Afghan Youth Debates: Fraud and Security Worries

Audience members at an IWPR-run discussion meeting in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia raised concerns about security around next April's presidential election, as well as doubts about the fairness of the process.

Student participants in the debate expressed concern about the possibility of massive fraud in the elections, security threats and interference by foreign networks in the elections.

Shafiqullah Niazi, head of the monitoring and evaluation section of the Independent Human Rights Commission’s regional office in Paktia, said it had not found any cause for concern in the course of the voter registration process.

On behalf of the Afghanistan Independent Election Commission, provincial spokesman Sher Alam Faizi gave an assurance that improvements had been made to the process so this election would be better than any of its predecessors in terms of fairness and transparency.

Another panelist, writer and civil society activist Dr Abdul Hadi Hamas said young people had a special responsibility to take part, as the democratic process was the only way to help Afghanistan get through the problems it was now suffering. 

Abdul Raqib Nuri is a student at Paktia University in Gardez.

This report was produced as part of Open Minds: Speaking Up, Reaching Out – Promoting University and Youth Participation in Afghan Elections, an IWPR initiative funded by the US embassy in Kabul.