Election campaigns in the Netherlands and Afghanistan

When somebody would be asking me about the Dutch parliament elections the first thing that comes to my mind is political tolerance and social commitment of the members of parliament. Even I had no chance to meet with all of them but those who I have met gave me this impression. Presence of more than 10 political parties in the Dutch political system shows that the most liberal system in the world has enough space for different dominant opinions in the society. For sure this system will not work in United States of America because they are used to having two winner parties at every election. And it is obvious it will not work either in Afghanistan because there is no commitment and tolerance culture. In my opinion the way Dutch political authorities participate in the election debates is very unique even for the western society. During the debates people are listening to each other (even to the opposite idea) with respect and tolerance.

But let’s compare it to the system in Afghanistan where people with different opinions and ideologies are not ready to listen to each other and sometimes ignore to sit even on the same floor. It happens that during discussion and debates though that the opposition is on the right track and logically explains the matter but nobody wants to listen to him/her. The culture of no tolerance is dominant in the political arena of Afghanistan. Nobody is ready to show a little flexibility towards others. Everybody thinks that they have the complete solution for all the problems of the country. During the election time every party tries to sell false slogans to the people and prepare big lunch and dinner parties for those who are voting for them. During these parties a big amount of money will be spent only to feed some rich people. Nobody cares about the poor majority and the problems that the country is facing.

Actually it all returns to the idea of why the political party is created in our country. To have a party, it looks more likely that somebody opens a shop and then puts something for sale on case show. To have a political party, means to become rich and powerful. It is not for the sake of serving people and solving country problems and acting as a committed organization. That is the reason why the majority of Afghan people are tired of political parties nowadays. Afghan political parties have one thing in common with the Dutch political parties: it is the existence of religious word in their title. 90 % of political parties in Afghanistan carry the word Islam in their title to gain the support of common people and most of the Dutch political party also carries the word Christian to get popularity in the society.

When we talk about fair elections in both countries, it more depends on their government systems. If there is no stable government and no reliable system in place, fair elections are not guaranteed. In the Netherlands there is a stable government system which is trustfully and created through decades but in Afghanistan a tribal system is in place and the lack of a good and reliable central government leads to no trust from the community on the political system. The tribal system is based on common goals and objectives and no individual takes the responsibility for his/ her act. That is the reason why there is no need to have enough knowledge or experience to become a leader of party in Afghanistan. The only thing you need is the support of your tribe! The person should be wise enough to use the trust of his tribe to fight with all kind of political and physical power.

During the last presidential elections more than 3000 people in one province came to the leader and asked him to vote on behalf of all of them. And he also filled all those ballots on behalf of them to support his own candidate. Because of the lack of trust in the political system, there is no real interest from the community to participate in the election campaigns. Everybody thinks that the elections are a game for political gamblers. It is not about coming with new plans and ideas to solve the problems and serve all Afghans.

From my experience from the Netherlands, during the election campaigns all political parties explain their plans and ideas to the people and participate in debates and discussions to take away the worries of those who have questions about their strategies. But this is not common in our country. There are a few examples of parties that know their strategy and come with a real plan, but most of them are afraid to participate in the debates and face to face discussions. Even during the 8 years Mr. Karzai rarely appeared to the people and if it was happened, he was in his home province Kandahar and among his own tribe, because he believes in the tribalism and feels safer when he is among his own tribe.
In Afghanistan gaining power means to impose your ideas on others but in the Netherlands it means to serve the country and people with more commitment. In the Netherlands people always trust on the parties (it happens that sometimes party compromise their idea) but in Afghanistan a party serves only for the sake and benefit of their members and most of all their leader. The leader of the party has the impartial right to lead the party to where he wants. Even if the leader is not very clever and creative he always has the right to say the last word and to make the decision. To become a leader of a political party there is no need to have a political education and wisdom but only power and money. It will result to finish with dictatorship and leadership syndrome. No leader is ready to confess their faults and mistakes committed in their ruling time, and they are not ready to voluntarily resign from their position. The experience showes that either he is killed or he creates another faction and leaves the party. To be a leader of party means being the owner of that party!

To compare the election campaigns in these two countries is difficult and there is little similarity or no similarity at all. It is worthy to mention the opinion of some immigrants who are living in the Netherlands about their participation in the elections. During the month of May I asked some immigrants in The Hague if they would vote in the elections of 9th June or not. Some of them told me that there is no use of their participation in the election. They didn’t believe that their vote will change their situation. I think they are too ambitious and want everything without moving and doing anything! But here in our country it is different. During the election campaigns people have little trust that their votes will bring changes in their life status. I heard that one person said that he got more than four ID cards to participate in the election. He believed that somebody will buy his vote. This is the only expectation that the ordinary Afghan will think about his participation in the election campaigns.