Politics, Afghan-Style

It's hardly your standard election pitch. "I have not been involved in the killing of innocent people," Abdulrab Rasul Sayaf tells Afghan voters in Kabul's Paghman district. "I have not committed human-rights abuses. I have not smuggled cultural artifacts. I have not smuggled narcotics. I have not been involved in the looting of public property. I have no links to terrorist organizations."

By reciting this mantra, Sayaf, a radical Islamist warlord who at one time or another has been accused of doing practically all of the above, today announced his candidacy for the Loya Jirga, Afghanistan's traditional council of tribal elders. Sitting in an undersized school desk, with FIRST GRADE scrawled across the side in pink crayon, Sayaf, sporting a large white beard and white turban, joined 74 other representatives from Paghman district in an auditorium at Kabul's Zarghooni school for the final phase of the Loya Jirga elections that are being held around the country.

The week-long Loya Jirga, set to begin on Monday, is a grand assembly named for the traditional political gatherings that began back in the 1720s. [EDITOR'S NOTE: The Loya Jirga's opening was delayed until Tuesday afternoon after a controversy over reports that Afghanistan's former king, Zahir Shah, would be a candidate for head of state. The former ruler said Monday he was not a candidate for any post.] The upcoming meeting is the culmination of the political agreement on Afghanistan hammered out in Bonn, Germany, last November. Its role will include establishing a transitional government to succeed the interim administration now led by Hamid Karzai. The meeting will also set the guidelines for governing Afghanistan until proper elections can be held. Not surprisingly, Afghans and foreign donors are anxiously awaiting the outcome of what undoubtedly is a significant political landmark.

That's not to say that the Loya Jirga election process has been flawless. It hasn't. There are widespread reports of bribery, intimidation, assault and even the murder of up to 10 potential candidates and Loya Jirga officials. But, difficult as it may be to admit, it could have been far worse. "Afghanistan is a rough place so this is a rough process," says one Western diplomat. "But so much more could have gone wrong."

What may poison the process is the lack of enforcement of clauses within the Loya Jirga blueprint which are meant to exclude notorious warlords like Sayaf. At the election today, Sayaf tried to clear his background by dismissing charges of past human-rights violations as "baseless accusations." "Those who didn't take care of human rights are well known to the Afghan country, and they will decide," he says in slightly accented English. While some may have walked away from Sayaf skeptically, the electors from Paghman district trusted him enough to vote him in as the top Loya Jirga participant from their district with 21 votes. His supporters celebrated with hearty rounds of "Allah u Akbar" [God is great].

Sayaf is not the only warlord trying to become a politician in the lead-up to the Loya Jirga. Perhaps the most dramatic turnaround has been ethnic-Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum. Politician Dostum now favors suave business suits, sports a clean-shaven face and gives speeches on the virtues of democracy and equal representation. "It's a sensitive issue," says Rina Amiri, 33, an international monitor for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and a recent returnee from the United States. "Wouldn't it be much more destructive if they [warlords] are left out of the process?"