SHA JOY, Afghanistan — Taliban sympathizers conducted their own last-minute campaign ahead of Saturday’s elections — increasing the small-arms fire directed at American patrols that are providing security, planting additional bombs along roadways leading to the polls, and threatening to exact heavy penalties on anyone observed
voting.
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Over the past month, Taliban insurgents have been infiltrating villages surrounding the central district and threatening families with a “tax” of 15,000 Afghani, equivalent to $300, if they are caught voting. It is “an impossible amount for the families,” said Mohamed Ullah Ahmedi, who is commander of a militia-style neighborhood watch program initiated by the U.S. military.
“It was different when the U.S. first came to Afghanistan,” he said, “Ninety out of one hundred people here follow or are forced to obey the Taliban, and only ten of one hundred support the government. No one trusts anymore.”
Just days before the election, a matriarch grandmother from Kabul, whose daughter Zahara Tokhi Zabuli is a candidate for parliament, made her way with other female family members to the district center for an election
meeting.
Their presence was a hopeful sign, but locals believe few females will vote outside cities like
Kabul.
“No, I don’t think the women will be voting,” said Mohammed, a young member of one of the election teams. “The women are in fear for their lives if they vote. They are afraid they will be killed by Taliban and they are afraid the Taliban may attack that day.”
Another Afghan man called out from his seated position on the floor, “They should just stay home with the children.”
As election day neared, teams comprising two representatives for each of the 16 candidates in Zabul province met in a compound
here.
They were waiting for instructions from their district chief, or quyum, who was outside the room watching Afghan National Police unload ballots in zip-tied blue plastic containers.
“Maybe the ballots are already filled out,” joked the quyum. Another Afghan Police Officer joked back, “Maybe we’re voting for nothing.”
The crowd of men laughed.
The jokes revealed the deep mistrust the Afghan people have toward President Hamid Karzai’s government. Although the boxes were sealed by zip ties on each end, one plastic crate had already been damaged.
The long open slit at the top didn’t stop the police from loading it into the security container with the others.
U.S. Army Capt. Max Pappas, with the Sha Joy Provincial Reconstruction Team, told the Afghans, “Look, we’re going to do everything we can to secure the elections and work with you. But we need your cooperation as well. We need to know who’s out there so we can protect you.”
On the ballots, candidates are represented by symbols — two jugs, two horses, two butterflies, the Koran, a pen, two candles — a necessary addition in an area where illiteracy is nearly universal. But all efforts to facilitate the election run up against the reality of strong Taliban opposition.
“The Taliban is watching everyone despite the security. The Taliban [have] already gained too much power and I worry every day about what will happen in the future,” Ullah Ahmedi
said.
