Afghan candidate Dr Abdullah promises reform of presidency
Updated
Afghan presidential candidate and former Foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, wants to de-centralise power and reform the Presidential system.
Facing some of the worst violence in the world, the people of Afghanistan are voting to choose a President. Polling stations opened earlier under tight security imposed by Afghan and western troops. There's a large number of candidates, but the vote is likely to come down to just a few main players .. the incumbent President Hamid Karzai, Dr Ashraf Ghani his former finance Minister and his former Foreign minister, Doctor Abdullah Abdullah
Presenter:Linda Mottram
Speaker: Satar Murad, campaign manager for Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan's former foreign minister and presidential candidate
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MURAD: In fact Afghans have decided to defy the violence however that is a major challenge to the election.
MOTTRAM: When you say Afghans will defy the violence, will it be enough of a turnout to make this a legitimate election?
MURAD: I think this election is different from the previous election. There are major candidates and every candidate is persuading its people to go to the polling stations so we are expecting a larger turnout than previous election.
MOTTRAM: A larger turnout, that's very optimistic sir!
MURAD: Right yes, because of having major candidates and tough competition, that's the reason we expect a larger turnout or in other words more candidates than previous elections.
MOTTRAM: How serious is the issue of corruption in government in the minds of Afghan voters?
MURAD: That is the biggest problem in the Afghan government, corruption in the ranks of the government officials and that has unfortunately infected the election system as well. We hope that corruption should be as little as possible as we are trying the national committee is trying to reduce the value of corruption. we hope to have a free election.
MOTTRAM: The issue of getting voters in distant areas though to participate is complex isn't it. Many Afghans will vote according to the views of senior clan or village or family member. Is that an area where corruption is playing a part or has played a part do you believe in the campaign?
MURAD: In the past those were the areas where corruption has taken place. Now we have requested observer organisations and even the security agencies in the country not to allow the ballot boxes to go to those unsafe and unstable areas unless and until the agents of the candidates are also secure to travel to the area and observe the election process.
MOTTRAM: That could mean a lot of those people may not get to vote because the risk of violence must surely be very high in those areas?
MURAD: I agree with you that the risk of the violence in those remote areas are high and definitely its going to impact the turnout of the people.
MOTTRAM: So in terms of the result, do you expect that Abdullah Abdullah can defeat Hamid Karzai immediately, outright, or do you expect to go to a run-off?
MURAD: Dr Abdullah has gone to this election with an aim to win in the first round, however there could be other possibilities as well.
MOTTRAM: In terms of the structure of Afghanistan's political system there is a lot of criticism that the presidential structure has concentrated too much power with one man. Do you agree with that criticism?
MURAD: Definitely I agree with that. And Afghanistan's history is a long history of aristocratic rule meaning that people have had very little say in the affairs of the country. Right now also the same strategy is applied to the country's management, therefore that's why Doctor Abdullah is for elected governors and district leaders and even mayors so that the power is transferred to the people and people have the authority to question their government about their doings.
