KABUL // After opting not to vote in the first round of Afghanistan's presidential election, Sami Wahidi changed his mind for the run-off. With only two candidates left in the race and so much at stake, he felt he had to participate.
"Our nation understood that even if our votes do not decide our future, they still have an impact and can count for a small percentage in the process," he said.
Mr Wahidi, 32, backed Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank technocrat and ethnic Pashtun who is now the front-runner to replace incumbent Hamid Karzai, if preliminary results announced last week are to be trusted.
Mr Ghani's rival, Abdullah Abdullah, has claimed that the extraordinarily high official turnout figure recorded for the June 14 run-off vote was proof of rampant fraud. He initially appeared close to announcing his own parallel government and some of his supporters protested in the streets of Kabul. But on Saturday Mr Abdullah agreed to respect the outcome of a full election audit, entering into an uneasy stand-off with Mr Ghani that has the country on edge.
Yet, during this entire period ordinary civilians and analysts have told The National that the controversy is not just about which individual will hold power. It is also about lingering ethnic tensions, the bloodshed of the past and a culture of warlordism long encouraged by the US.
While only two members of Mr Wahidi's family voted in the first round of the election on April 5, this number increased to 11 in the run-off, all of whom supported Mr Ghani.
They were not motivated by policy issues, but more by a desire to protect their ethnic community's traditional position in Afghanistan.
An engineer from the eastern province of Nangarhar, when Mr Wahidi spoke of "our nation" he was referring to Pashtuns - the country's largest ethnic group.
Throughout most of Afghanistan's history, its rulers have been Pashtun. Like many in his community, Mr Wahidi fears that the balance of power will be upset if the Pashtuns do not hold on to the presidency.
"The nation is worried and it is against warlords, corruption and the use of force," Mr Wahidi said. "By using their votes people said no to them."
Although Mr Abdullah is of mixed parentage and has vice presidential candidates from different ethnic backgrounds, he is commonly associated with the Tajik community due to his political history.
After fighting against Soviet forces in the 1980s, he served in the Northern Alliance movement that fought the Taliban regime and whose members have dominated the political landscape since the 2001 US-led invasion.
A foreign minister in the early years of Mr Karzai's rule, Mr Abdullah went on to become an outspoken critic of the president and ran against him in the 2009 election. He has accused Mr Karzai and Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission of helping fix the vote in favour of Mr Ghani.
Many of his supporters believe the election dispute is proof that Tajiks are experiencing discrimination.
The powerful governor of the northern Balkh province, Atta Mohammed Noor, has already announced that he regards Mr Abdullah as Afghanistan's legitimate president. There are concerns that Mr Atta's comments could be a taste of what is to come.
The uncertainty regarding the election has meant "everyone is worried", said Ajmal, a 28-year old university student from the district of Paghman, just outside Kabul city.
"The roads they have blocked are not just for the use of Ashraf Ghani's supporters or Abdullah's," he said. "They are for the use of poor men who are trying go work or for people taking the sick to hospitals."
While tensions are high, Ajmal doubted a civil war would break out while US troops remain in the country.
And, with the final election results not yet announced, a way out of the crisis might still be possible.
Mr Abdullah and Mr Ghani are reported to have agreed that a parliamentary system of government should be created. A new position called 'chief executive' will be awarded to the losing team after the final result is announced. The position will later evolve into the post of prime minister.
Waheed Mozhdah, a Kabul-based political analyst and member of a political movement that opposed holding the elections, said the recent problems show Afghanistan is not yet ready for Western-style democracy.
Most Pashtuns wanted a presidential system of government while Tajiks favoured a parliamentary system, he said after the runoff was held. It was also unlikely that the losing side would accept defeat, Mr Mozhdah added.
"The result is that a weak government will be formed and it will only have control in part of the country," he said.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Ethnic tensions and warlordism haunt Afghans amid election dispute
To Afghans, the controversy is not just about which individual will hold power - it is about lingering ethnic tensions, the bloodshed of the past and a culture of warlordism long encouraged by the US.
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