By Abdul Haleem
KABUL, April 25 (Xinhua)-- As the registration of candidates for the Afghan presidential election began Saturday, security is being tipped as a daunting challenge that could undermine the transparency of this historic event in the post-Taliban nation.
In the first day of registration process, contrary to expectation, just three presidential aspirants visited the Independent Election Commission (IEC) office but could not register as their documents were incomplete, according to the spokesman of the body Noor Mohammad Noor.
The nomination process would last until May 8 during which period the incumbent president Hamid Karzai is expected to register for re-election.
However, the Taliban militants, resisting the Afghan, U.S. and NATO forces, have aired their resolve to sabotage the historic polls set for August 20 this year.
Endorsing the security concern, Afghan Defense Minister, General Abdul Rahim Wardak, at a joint press conference with U.S. commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), General David McKiernan on last Monday, described the year2009 as a challenging year.
To ensure security for the election, the top Afghan security man announced that four-round checkpoints will be established to guard some 7,000 voting centers throughout the country.
The United States and its allied countries have already promised to send in additional 29,000 troops to enable the Afghan government to hold the election in a peaceful manner.
Over 100,000 Afghan army and police personnel - backed by over a 90,000-strong U.S.-led coalition and ISAF forces are poised to ensure the safety of Afghan nationals intending to cast their votes.
To further bolster security, the Afghan Interior Ministry has announced to enlist additional 15,000 police personnel bringing the force's strength to nearly 100,000.
For his part, Taliban's purported spokesman, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, in a talk with media from his unknown destination, said that the outfit would use all possible means to disrupt the election process.
Confirming security threats, a legislator from Kandahar, the Taliban birthplace, says the Taliban do exist in villages of the province and they would definitely try to sabotage the polling process.
Over 17 million Afghans, according to Noor Mohammad Noor, the IEC spokesman, are eligible to vote in the election.
However, observers believe the fairness of election would be tarnished if the turnout remains low.
According to media reports, ten out of the country's total 364 districts - are in the hands of Taliban insurgents while the militants also command influence in many other areas.
Meantime, the IEC is determined to hold free and fair elections across the country with the support of national and international security forces based in Afghanistan.
"The Independent Election Commission is working hard, with the help of the ISAF and national security organs, to ensure security and facilitate all eligible voters to use their right to franchise," Noor told Xinhua.
Sahera Sharif, a legislator from the eastern Khost province, fears that people would not go to the polling booths if their lives are threatened.
President Hamid Karzai's political rivals are critical to the whole process: They say that lack of security on the one hand, and the stay of the incumbent president in his office until the holding of the election on the other, is a joke with the transparency of the election process.
They insist on the formation of a caretaker setup to hold the election and hand over power to the next elected president.
Mohammad Omar Sapi, director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Kandahar the birthplace of Taliban in south Afghanistan, also doubts the holding of free election in face of the present security threat.
"In face of lack of security in the southern and eastern parts of the country, it is impossible to hold fair and transparent elections," Sapi told Xinhua.
