Am man shows his voter ID
and he waits to cast his ballot in local and
presidential polls in Paktia, Afghanistan. Most recent estimates are that
about half of all eligible
voters participated in Saturday's elections.
Job One for New Afghan President: Sign U.S. Security Deal (Outlook
Afghanistan, Afghanistan)
"A complete withdrawal of U.S.-led forces would put
Afghanistan at risk of reverting to the dark era of the Taliban, which is
something no sensible Afghan wants. ... This successful election has greatly
eased the concerns of the people. Yet the future remains uncertain. The new
president must realize this and take the country out of its present condition.
As a first step, he must sign the BSA as soon as he
takes charge of the presidential office."
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan's first post-Talibam foreign minister and now-rival of Hamid Karzai, casts his vote in Kabul, Apr. 5. An ethic Tajik, Abdullah is regarded as most likely to take Afghanistan in a new direction. He is expected to finish in first or second place after the first round of voting.
Afghanistan,
contrary to what many feared, held a successful election Saturday. Afghans
amazed the world with their enthusiastic participation in April 5th presidential
and provincial council elections. Their courage in defying terrorism to cast
their votes, despite the threat, has been praised by leaders of prominent
countries and organizations like the United States, NATO, the European Union
and the United Nations. Meanwhile on Election Day, the Taliban failed to launch
a single significant attack, which speaks to the growing capabilities of the Afghanistan
National Security Forces. Even the most volatile provinces not only men went to
the polls - so did their women.
Posted By
Worldmeets.US
America
has already indicated its readiness to work with the new president and support
the Afghan people in continuing their journey on the path of democracy. U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry said: “The United States remains ready to work with the
next president of Afghanistan. We will continue to stand with the people of
Afghanistan as they work to build a democratic future.”
With
the elections over, certain crucial tasks await the new president, above all, the
Bilateral
Security Agreement [BSA] with the United States. The
agreement is inextricably tied to the future stability of the country and
success of the new government. Provided the election doesn't go to a second round,
Afghanistan's new president will be in office as soon as next month, and finalizing
the BSA must be on his priority list. All of the
presidential candidates have promised to sign the deal if elected.
Despite
all the public pressure and the emphasis of American and NATO authorities, President
HamidKarzai refused to
endorse the security agreement, leaving that the new government.
The
BSA allows a certain number of U.S. and NATO forces to
remain in Afghanistan after 2014. They will be tasked with training and
supporting Afghanistan's security forces, and to keep an eye on terrorist
networks like al-Qaida. Apart from that, international support to Afghanistan, both
financial and non-financial, will continue, which will definitely help the
country retain the crucial gains accrued over the past 12 years.
Specifically
speaking of the new president, governing Afghanistan without signing the BSA will very challenging. A complete withdrawal of U.S.-led
forces would put Afghanistan at risk of reverting to the dark era of the Taliban,
which is something no sensible Afghan wants. The main driver of the massive participation
in these elections is indeed their hope in the new government. They want the
new administration to bolster Afghanistan's relations with the world so that outside
support for a better and more secure Afghanistan continues.
This
successful election has greatly eased the concerns of the people. Yet the
future remains uncertain. The new president must realize this and take the
country out of its present condition. As a first step, he must sign the BSA as soon as he takes charge of the presidential office.
