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The Day After |
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The new Afghan Constitution provides guidelines for governance in a country where government had been destroyed almost completely due to the long years of conflict and turmoil. The document provides instructions for rebuilding of the government based on democratic principles. The burden of the task lies on the shoulders of the government, which includes the three branches. In actuality the main burden is on the executive. Presently that executive, in its transitional state, is still the government of Karzai who is strongly hopeful of winning the first general elections in June this year. His national and especially international supporters specifically the Untied States would want him to win, since in a strange coincidence his fate is tied up with the success of the American objectives in Afghanistan. Karzai presently runs on his own recognition. He has not attempted at building a political base like a party to support his agenda. Therefore, the main criterion for his election would be his performance. This performance would be considered over a long period since his ascension to the political stage of the country as the head of the interim government and later as the chief of the transitional period and now for at least another six months as the person responsible for determining the course of political action in the country helped by a brand new constitution that gives him unprecedented powers. But the real task of nation building that should have started on the Day After the promulgation of the new Constitution is huge, formidable and complex. Many wonder if Karzai is cut out to deal with the task ahead. They base their judgment on his performance to date. Looking back over the past more than two years, he has not made any significant headway in any of the tasks entrusted him. The country's only achievement, the promulgation of the Constitution is in reality credited to the United Nations efforts and the US politicking. Beyond that excepting an extremely conservative attitude that has minimized conflict with the warlords and has prevented dangerous instigation of opposition, Karzai has served more as a dependent of US military presence than an independent national leader. In physical terms, excepting the reparation of the Kabul-Kandahar Highway by the United States no other tangible achievement can be pointed out during his tenure. This is not to state that even the above achievements were easy to score. The country was, as it still is, at the mercy of the warlords and gunmen who had, in a strange way, accepted Karzai as a symbol of leadership for Afghanistan and that also only in Kabul. His writ did not go much beyond what is known as the presidential palace. More than once, his decrees remained unfulfilled and he was found incapable of doing anything about them. Yet, he survived a dangerous period in the life of the country- a period that was also one of the most important eras in Afghan history. On the other hand, his persistence and patience paid off in the promulgation of the Constitution that is now considered one of his major weapons for governing the country. Now that the guidelines are on the table, the nation and the world would watch with interest how well would he tackle the numerous tasks ahead of him. For an example, take any article of the Constitution and you will find huge challenges for the government to take up. There are laws to be drafted complementing many articles of the Constitution without which, the Constitution would be just a compilation of words and empty directives. There are government institutions and organizations to be built up. A national army and police are to be put in place as soon as today to guarantee the security needed for advancing the task of governance. Preparations for general parliamentary and presidential elections are to be made as early as yesterday. This includes voter registration which in itself is a complex and difficult task considering the situations in Afghanistan. The country's financial infrastructure is to be strengthened, as of also yesterday, to provide for the purchase of goods and services needed for implementing democratic principles in the country and keeping the wheels of government running. No nation can depend indefinitely on foreign handouts and foreign financial support. Such reliance would turn leaders into stooges. Afghanistan needs to stand on its own feet and Karzai has to help it do so. The Constitution has given him further solid missions to accomplish. Let us look at a few examples: Article Six of Chapter 1 of the Constitution reads: "The state is obliged to create a prosperous and progressive society based on social justice, protection of human dignity, protection of human rights, realization of democracy, and to ensure national unity and equality among all ethnic groups and tribes and to provide for balanced development in all areas of the country" Even if this were the only obligation given to the state of which Karzai is presently the head today and hopeful to continue to be if he succeeds the elections of 2004, it would take him day and night beginning early morning of the "Day After" the Constitution was promulgated to attempt at starting the task. It is easy to formulate articles requiring the state to create a prosperous and progressive society. It is a different thing to do so. It is easy to write about creation of social justice, protection of human dignity and protection of human rights. It is a different thing to accomplish these. It is easy to talk about the realization of democracy and ensuring of national unity and equality in a multiethnic and tribal society such as Afghanistan. It is a different thing to achieve them. It is so easy to talk about balanced development in all areas in the country. It is extremely difficult to implement this. The Constitution further assigns a myriad of responsibilities to the government and to the leaders of its branches and specifically the head of state. To fulfill those responsibilities requires statesmanship, knowledge, skill, administrative know how, political maturity, popular support, selflessness, dedication, organizational skills, planning and perseverance. Experience has shown that in developing societies, one successful score leads the leaders to become arrogant, even selfish and become slow and sluggish in leading of the nation any further. They pause to cherish the sweet taste of a minor success forgetting the enormity of the full task ahead. The question now is whether Hamid Karzai can use the strong support and powers that the new Constitution has given him to make democracy a reality in Afghanistan and to lead the nation toward prosperity. His real test began last Sunday when the Constitution was promulgated. If he proves to measure up to the new tasks entrusted him by the nation, he will go in history as a national leader. It he fails to take the opportunity and if he fails to prove as a selfless leader then he will go down in history as a stooge. 1/9/04 |