Afganistan: Threats to Democratic Stability

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Democratic stability in multiethnic societies was the topic discussed in an academic seminar in Kabul. Afghanistan is a multiethnic society. If ethnic cleavages are not managed properly and wisely, they could lead to plunging the country into ethnic conflicts once again. Dr. Mohammad Amin Ahmadi, the head of Ibn-e-Sin private university and a member of Commission for Overseeing Implementation of the Constitution, in a seminar on the occasion of seventeenth anniversary of Shahid Abdul Ali Mazari organized by Democracy and Development Studies Group on Friday, March 02, 2012 here in Kabul, said that it is the elites of the multi-ethnic society of Afghanistan that can make democracy in the country a success.

He stated that if the political elites that represent different ethnic and identity groups of the country do not act responsibly and or fail to assume their role in the success of democracy in an informed way, democracy will go bankrupt.

Over the last few years, democracy and human rights discourse has taken back seat in international support for Afghanistan. In the meanwhile, there are growing concerns among political parties and coalitions about the failure of the existing power structures and electoral system.

They believe that the current political system and government have led to decentralization of power in the hand of few people, and have consequently provided context for widespread corruption in the administration across the country, and generated a wide gap between the people and the government. The National Front of Afghanistan- a political alliance comprised of some of the most influential and popular political parties-was the first that launched a campaign to stimulate a national dialogue on fundamental political reforms.

Dr. Ahmadi believes that there are three formidable threats to democratic stability in Afghanistan. Ahmadi is of the view that Afghanistan is at war in 21th century, which is fought by a large network of fundamentalists against the new world order and its imperatives that includes democratization in post-conflict countries, such as Afghanistan.

If political elites fail to understand and fathom the logic of this war, it will bring democracy in Afghanistan to failure. The second factor that can threaten democratic stability in the country is absence of a national discourse of constitutionalism.

This member of the Commission for Overseeing Implementation of the Constitution maintains that such a discourse can lead to the development of a social movement that is a must for a democracy to take root and become consolidated. In his opinion, elites, in particular academic elites, have the potential to initiate such as discourse and bring about a social movement in support of constitutionalism and democracy.

He also highlighted the importance of international support for democratization in Afghanistan, saying that since democratization is one of the imperatives of the new world order, there should be sustained backing for democratization and democratic consolidation on the part of international community so that democratic political system becomes stable. Ahmadi believes that it is not right and correct to analyze international presence under the paradigm of imperialism. He had a note of critique of those political commentators and analysts that put the presence of international community in Afghanistan into such a context.