Women Show Support for Female Candidates

Dozens of Afghan women gathered in the Women’s Garden in Kabul on September 15, the final day of campaigning, to voice their support for female parliamentary candidates.

Many said they intend to vote only for women running in the September 18 polls, reported Qadria Yazdan Parast, a female candidate from Kabul.

However Palwasha, a schoolteacher from Kabul, noted, “I have the right to vote for whoever I want. No-one can force me to vote for their favourite candidate, even if it is a woman.”

But not all women in Afghanistan can vote freely.

Fatima, a 45-year-old woman from Kapisa, says that on election day her husband orders her to vote for whoever he wants. Fatima, who cannot read, said her husband shows her a candidate’s photo and she votes for that person.