A group of Afghan officials travels to South Africa to study that country’s electoral system – and bring home some ideas.
After the past two major elections in Afghanistan – the controversial presidential poll in 2009, and the even more problematic parliamentary ballot in 2010, it has become glaringly obvious that Afghanistan’s electoral system needs some improvement. Recently, a group of Afghans went to South Africa, to see what they could learn about elections in that country.
The study tour, organized by the U.S.-based Non-Governmental Organization Democracy International (DI), included representatives from Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC), from civil society forums, from the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA), as well as academics from Kabul University and members of various political parties.
The main goal of the tour was to familiarize the Afghan delegation with the nature of elections in South Africa, as well with the practices of its Election Commission and Electoral Court in adjudicating election-related complaints.
The organizers hope that the delegation will return to Afghanistan and implement some of their positive experiences that could make their own system more effective.
“The study tour on Afghanistan’s Electoral and Advocacy Systems Reforms was held to promote information on alternatives in the nature of electoral systems,” said Roshan Seran, the Executive Director of Training in Human Rights for the Afghan Women’s Association and a participant in the tour. “Getting information about electoral systems and discussions on changing our country’s electoral systems were other issues covered during the visit.”
Roshan Seran, the Executive Director of Training in
Human Rights for the Afghan Women’s Association
Considering the multi-tribal structure and social similarities between the two nations, Seran believes that South Africa’s experience with electoral systems, the elections process, governance, structure and the authority of the electoral bodies, the role of non-governmental entities, political parties and civil society forums in elections – could all be good models for Afghanistan.
South Africa has established a democratic government, she added, but it has suffered war and ethnic discrimination for years. Therefore, its experience in elections is a good example for Afghanistan, a country that is still facing these problems and needs to profit from the experiences of other counties to hold transparent elections and establish a democratic government.
“We learned a lot about how South Africa addressed the issues of forming systems, and this was very effective,” she added.
Both the presidential and parliamentary elections in Afghanistan nearly precipitated crises within the government. Issues such as fraud, authority over complaints, and compliance with the decisions of electoral bodies all threatened to topple Afghanistan’s still fragile electoral system. Ripples from the long standoff over election fraud between the legislature and the executive are still being felt.
In South Africa, there is an Electoral Court responsible for conducting free and transparent elections and adjudicating electoral complaints. This court was formed based on democratic principles, and has only seven days to adjudicate complaints.
Farkhunda Zahra Naderi, an MP from Kabul and a participant in the study tour, gave more details on the formation and responsibilities of South Africa’s Electoral Court.
“Members of the Electoral Court are proposed by a Judicial Services Commission – an entity similar to a Supreme Court and confirmed by the president,” she said. “The chairperson and two members of the court are selected from senior lawyers in the Judicial Services Commission [Supreme Court] and two other members from ordinary people to ensure citizen participation in South Africa.”
Naderi explained the differences between election commissions in the two countries.
“There is a temporary Electoral Complaints Commission in Afghanistan, but South Africa has a permanent Electoral Court to adjudicate election-related complaints,” she added. “This could be used as a positive experience in Afghanistan. Another important issue is the transparent candidacy and selection process of the members of the Commission.
“Individuals from the Human Rights Commission, Gender Equality Commission, Human Resources Department, Audit and Finance Commissions and the Judicial Services Commission are selected for the Election Commission,” she explained. “Those selected must be approved by Parliament and confirmed by the president. So people trust the electoral bodies. People do not trust election management bodies in Afghanistan because they are not elected and there is no transparency in their work. It definitely hurts democracy and discredits the election process when people’s representatives are removed from the legislature after ten months,” she said.
Naderi was referring to the Parliamentary election scandal, in which nine MPs were removed from the Lower House, or Wolesi Jirga, following a decision by the electoral bodies that found fraud in these members’ campaigns. The move came after a Special Court instituted by the Afghan President tried to disqualify one-quarter of the 249-member body for electoral irregularities. The president dissolved the Court and asked the IEC to resolve the issue.
Mir Ahmad Joyenda, the Deputy Director of Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) and also a member of the study tour, said the experience was quite useful.
Farkhunda Zahra Naderi, an MP from Kabul
“South Africa’s experience can help us reform our electoral systems because that county has experienced similar conflicts for the past few years as we do now,” he said. “Elections cost less in South Africa, which is another useful example for Afghanistan. Election expenses are covered by internal resources in South Africa, but Afghanistan receives money for elections from foreign countries, and this raises the cost of elections.”
South Africa’s Election Commission has a permanent voter registration system to register all eligible voter. The names of those who die are removed from the system.
South Africa approved its first Constitution in 1960 to establish good governance, form independent electoral bodies, a Human Rights Commission, etc.
South Africa’s Independent Elections Commission held its first elections in 1994. The Ministry of the Interior had the responsibility for elections until the election commission was established in South Africa.
There are 200 active political parties at central and provincial levels in South Africa. The government is proportionally supporting political parties to democratize the political system in the country.
