Stepping in Iran’s Path?
Post-election developments in Afghanistan resemble Iran. But how genuine are the similarities? By Javad Mahzadeh
The finale of Afghanistan presidential elections resembles to Iran’s post-election developments that we could even sue Afghans in an international court for violating the copyright laws. But deep inside, are the recent events in Afghanistan similar to Iran’s story?
Mutual impacts of Iran and Afghanistan have a long history. Temporal closeness has been a main feature of cultural and political developments of the two neighbors. Due to strong language and civilization bonds –and at times being under the rule of one dynasty- the two countries have undergone similar experiences.
But what we hear from Afghanistan in these days sounds strange. Afghanistan’s reproduction of Iran’s recent political developments is not only unpleasant, but also a pity. Not because of what we jokingly called the violation of copyright law, but because this has turned into one of the rare Iranian exports to Afghanistan during these years; like there was no other cultural entity qualified to pass the borders and rest in hands of our Afghan brothers.
The story of election fraud (or its illusion) was a gift from Iranians to Afghans, one that needed neither ambassadors nor consuls. Even the blocks and barbwires which are supposed to stop smugglers from commuting between Iran and Afghanistan could not stop its infiltration.
Things were fine before the elections. European observers entered Afghanistan while the independent election committee was preparing for the elections with full impartiality. Except for one or two cases, the televised debates were held in peace and even showed that many candidates shared the same ideas and plans.
Even the warning quoted from a member of Abdullah Abdullah’s election campaign headquarters about demonstration in case of Karzai’s victory was not taken seriously and did not raise questions about ’widespread fraud’.
But now, the language used by Iranian protestors is surprisingly used by Abdullah Abdullah supporters. Would it come as a shock if we hear about ’Allahu Akbar’s on rooftops and rumors of protestors raped in prisons?
Dr. Abdullah has talked about widespread manipulation, vote trade and other cases of vote-rigging during the elections. He has meanwhile said that they should wait for the announcement of results by the independent committee. His supporters yet have not hesitated to say that in case of Karzai’s victory, they will pour into the streets and take disobedience. Widespread fraud and disobedience.
These two familiar words are one of those scant exports of Iran to Afghanistan during the recent years. While the course of elections in Afghanistan was different from Iran and Karzai’s relative popularity had led Afghans to talk of his victory, in came the increasingly radical protests of Abdullah Abdullah’s supporters.
It seems that if Iranians had not talked of the possibility of vote-rigging in their elections, Afghanistan would have never witnessed calls for civil disobedience and violence. But Iran’s case has led a member of Abdullah Abdullah’s election campaign headquarters to say that they will repeat what happened in Iran and protest like Iranians against the results of presidential election.
Following his Iranian counterpart Mir Hosein Musavi, Abdullah Abdullah has asked observers to investigate the big fraud that has happened in the elections. Abdullah Abdullah had already showed his interest in Iran’s developments and the green movement by choosing the blue color for his election campaign.
During the recent years, the Islamic Republic has not aided Afghans in a remarkable fashion. Afghanistan affairs experts even believed that during the recent presidential elections, against its own tradition Iran had remained silent and inactive. Iran’s indifferent behavior towards Afghanistan’s key issues such as terrorism, instability, economic problems, energy shortage etc. continued to exist and Iran avoided attending one of the important conferences on Afghanistan’s security and economic reconstruction due to its problems with West. And now an unwanted event has joined the set of cultural and political exchanges between the two countries.
The impact of Iran’s protests and claims of election fraud in the tenth presidential elections shook Afghanistan’s nascent democracy such that Abdullah Abdullah asked the election committee to seal the ballot boxes and block any access to them.
This may be a better occasion to use the term ’interference in domestic issues’. The objecting Afghan candidate is imitating Iran’s developments and thus giving an anarchic, pre-planned face to the Iranian protests.
As was the case in our country, Afghanistan’s independent election committee stated that no frauds had taken place in the elections. However, the big difference between elections in Iran and Afghanistan was the quality of holding and monitoring the elections, the determining factor in both Iran and Afghanistan. There were 234 thousand and 299 Afghan and international observers in Afghanistan’s presidential and provincial elections. This single evidence casts a shadow on all the resemblance between election developments in Iran and Afghanistan. The post-election developments in Iran and Afghanistan are only similar in surface, but deep inside, the story is entirely different.
Mutual impacts of Iran and Afghanistan have a long history. Temporal closeness has been a main feature of cultural and political developments of the two neighbors. Due to strong language and civilization bonds –and at times being under the rule of one dynasty- the two countries have undergone similar experiences.
But what we hear from Afghanistan in these days sounds strange. Afghanistan’s reproduction of Iran’s recent political developments is not only unpleasant, but also a pity. Not because of what we jokingly called the violation of copyright law, but because this has turned into one of the rare Iranian exports to Afghanistan during these years; like there was no other cultural entity qualified to pass the borders and rest in hands of our Afghan brothers.
The story of election fraud (or its illusion) was a gift from Iranians to Afghans, one that needed neither ambassadors nor consuls. Even the blocks and barbwires which are supposed to stop smugglers from commuting between Iran and Afghanistan could not stop its infiltration.
Things were fine before the elections. European observers entered Afghanistan while the independent election committee was preparing for the elections with full impartiality. Except for one or two cases, the televised debates were held in peace and even showed that many candidates shared the same ideas and plans.
Even the warning quoted from a member of Abdullah Abdullah’s election campaign headquarters about demonstration in case of Karzai’s victory was not taken seriously and did not raise questions about ’widespread fraud’.
But now, the language used by Iranian protestors is surprisingly used by Abdullah Abdullah supporters. Would it come as a shock if we hear about ’Allahu Akbar’s on rooftops and rumors of protestors raped in prisons?
Dr. Abdullah has talked about widespread manipulation, vote trade and other cases of vote-rigging during the elections. He has meanwhile said that they should wait for the announcement of results by the independent committee. His supporters yet have not hesitated to say that in case of Karzai’s victory, they will pour into the streets and take disobedience. Widespread fraud and disobedience.
These two familiar words are one of those scant exports of Iran to Afghanistan during the recent years. While the course of elections in Afghanistan was different from Iran and Karzai’s relative popularity had led Afghans to talk of his victory, in came the increasingly radical protests of Abdullah Abdullah’s supporters.
It seems that if Iranians had not talked of the possibility of vote-rigging in their elections, Afghanistan would have never witnessed calls for civil disobedience and violence. But Iran’s case has led a member of Abdullah Abdullah’s election campaign headquarters to say that they will repeat what happened in Iran and protest like Iranians against the results of presidential election.
Following his Iranian counterpart Mir Hosein Musavi, Abdullah Abdullah has asked observers to investigate the big fraud that has happened in the elections. Abdullah Abdullah had already showed his interest in Iran’s developments and the green movement by choosing the blue color for his election campaign.
During the recent years, the Islamic Republic has not aided Afghans in a remarkable fashion. Afghanistan affairs experts even believed that during the recent presidential elections, against its own tradition Iran had remained silent and inactive. Iran’s indifferent behavior towards Afghanistan’s key issues such as terrorism, instability, economic problems, energy shortage etc. continued to exist and Iran avoided attending one of the important conferences on Afghanistan’s security and economic reconstruction due to its problems with West. And now an unwanted event has joined the set of cultural and political exchanges between the two countries.
The impact of Iran’s protests and claims of election fraud in the tenth presidential elections shook Afghanistan’s nascent democracy such that Abdullah Abdullah asked the election committee to seal the ballot boxes and block any access to them.
This may be a better occasion to use the term ’interference in domestic issues’. The objecting Afghan candidate is imitating Iran’s developments and thus giving an anarchic, pre-planned face to the Iranian protests.
As was the case in our country, Afghanistan’s independent election committee stated that no frauds had taken place in the elections. However, the big difference between elections in Iran and Afghanistan was the quality of holding and monitoring the elections, the determining factor in both Iran and Afghanistan. There were 234 thousand and 299 Afghan and international observers in Afghanistan’s presidential and provincial elections. This single evidence casts a shadow on all the resemblance between election developments in Iran and Afghanistan. The post-election developments in Iran and Afghanistan are only similar in surface, but deep inside, the story is entirely different.