On Thursday 22 February 2018 the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS); launched its recent research paper entitled “The Challenging Path towards Democracy in Afghanistan: An Assessment and Critique of National Debates on Alternative Political Systems in Afghanistan”. The purpose of the current paper is to highlight different viewpoints on the notion of changing the current political system in Afghanistan.
The research project was carried out through a qualitative method, using key Informant Interviews as the main data gathering tool. The research team conducted some 49 in-depth interviews with field experts. Given the varieties of opinions about reforming the political system and the division of certain political groups as defendants and opponents of decentralization, the research team strived to make sure that the interviewees included rival groups from different political parties, ethnic grouping and different regions of the country. The interviews were conducted in Kabul and six provinces including; Mazar-e-Sharif, Jowzjan, Bamiyan, Herat, Kandahar and Nengarhar in order to relatively collect opinions from four corners of the country.
At the beginning of the launching ceremony, Zalmai Nishat, one of the authors of the report, talked about the research methodology and the main findings of the research paper. He said that, in order to get rid of manipulation of power by one ethnic group, a balanced presence of different ethnic groupings in the executive branch of the government is needed.
In his speech, Dr. Mohaiuddin Mahdi, Member of Parliament, highlighted the fact that the debate on reforming the political system goes back to the early days of ratification of the constitution. According to him, at the time, the voice of proponents of decentralization was not heard. He suggested that there is a need for further research about the constitution building in contemporary Afghanistan. Dr. Mahdi said that political efforts are being under way to promote the status of political parties in the parliamentary elections. One suggestion is that the current Single Non Transferable Voting (SNTV) system should be preserved for independent candidates and for political parties a Single Transferable Voting system must be introduced. He stated that Afghanistan should push towards decentralization in order to guarantee a proper separation of power in the government.
Dr. Abdulrouf Herawi, member of The Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of Constitution, emphasized on the importance of proper research about constitutional issues. He suggested that research projects should be conducted on the issue of law making in Afghanistan. Dr. Herawi said that in general the constitution of Afghanistan is well designed. Furthermore better implementation of the constitution needs more time and educational efforts. He said that the current constitution provided the basis for creation of independent institutions, but it is not being implemented properly. According to him, people only can decide about the reform of the political system within the current constitutional framework. Dr. Herawi suggested that without the creation of constitutional court, the problem will not be solved.
The event ended with the Q&A session.