Youth and Upcoming Elections

Conference on youth and upcoming elections: achievements and Limitations
Kabul, 17 – 20 June 2004

Declaration

The conference on Youth and the upcoming elections; achievements and limitations, which was held from June 17th to 20th by YLF/FES involving 220 young Afghans from all over Afghanistan concludes with the following declaration:
We, the participants of the above-mentioned conference after three-days of consultations and discussions, with consensus, request the all those officials and institutions involved in decision making regarding the upcoming elections to delay the upcoming Parliamentary elections for a period of at least further six months due to short-comings in the following areas:

1. In the area of Pubic Education and Registration:

On of the hurdles that seriously threatens the upcoming elections is the low level of awareness between ordinary Afghans in regards with the upcoming elections. This problem has had direct influence on the voter’s registration process and has slowed down the process. The efforts made by JEMB and the Civil Society in Afghanistan in this regard are appreciated; however, they are not sufficient. The people of Afghanistan, in particular, those who live outside the capital are living with low level of awareness regarding the elections, the nature of elections, the importance of elections and all other issues connected to elections. Thus, it is of utmost urgency for the international community, the civil society and the JEMB to try to speed up and further intensify the public education campaign.

2. In the areas of Deweaponization, demobilization and reintegration (DDR)

DDR is the most important precondition for free, fair and just elections in Afghanistan and without complete and unbiased conduct of this process a free, fair and just elections in Afghanistan is not possible. Unfortunately, the speed of the process, the honesty in the process and the justice in the process are the issues that can be questioned about the process. Therefore, the DDR Commission, the United Nations and International Community and all other involved institutions are requested to take up DDR as their top most priority before the elections and to disarm all the local commanders, the local militias and all other military units other than the ANA without any prejudice and exception. They are also requested to provide the grounds for reintegration of the disarmed forces into non-military occupations. On top of these, in line with the Political Party’s Law, the government should not register any party that has a military branch in the ministry of Justice.

3. In the Area of Monitoring of the Elections:

Monitoring of the electoral process by neutral national and international organizations is also one of the key preconditions of a free, fair and just election. In fact, proper monitoring of the elections guarantees the fairness of the elections.

No serious attention has been paid to the monitoring of the processes so far involving the elections (the voter’s registration, political party’s registration, etc). The participants of the conference propose the establishment of an independent, neutral commission made up of civil society organizations to undertake the monitoring of the election’s process supporting the United Nations. In the same way, in order to guarantee the justness and fairness of the Independent Electoral Commission, the establishment of an Independent electoral court is also proposed.

4. In the area of the Role of Media

The media and press must play a key role in public awareness about the elections and the monitoring of the electoral process. However, so far the media and the press have failed to play a vital role in these two areas. On the other hand, the government media has failed to act independently and neutrally. So, the participants of the conference request the government and nongovernmental media to start disseminative and awareness raising campaigns in regards with the elections and to give all the parties and independent candidates for the upcoming elections a chance and opportunity for their media campaigns without prejudice and discriminations. The international community and the government should provide the media and press and the journalists with enough security.

5. In the Area of the Role of the International Community

The international community should support the Independent Electoral Commission and the Local Civil Society organizations in the following areas:

· Speeding up the process and paving the way for the free and fair elections
· Monitoring of the process and the day of the elections.
· Preventing use of force in the process and on the day of the elections
· Ensuring no-interference of the foreign states in the elections.
· Hearing and acting upon the complaints from Afghan population in regards with the elections.