MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Civil society activists in northern Balkh province lamented the lingering election crisis on Monday, saying the delay was bruising Afghanistan’s image internationally.
In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, leading social activists in Mazar-i-Sharif expressed regrets over the near-shattering of their dream of a landmark democratic transfer of power.
Ghulam Bashir, member of the Balkh Social Movement (BSM), said common Afghans had changed a lot in the past one decade but their political leadership kept feuding.
The intelligentsia believed current Afghan leadership had put at stake the hard-earned reputation of the nation. Mukhtar Wafai, chief editor of weekly Howeda, said candidates had no right to put the country at stake.
The last one decade, he believed, was a golden era for the warn-torn country to earn some respect at the global level. “The nation is not willing to be part of any red, orange or green movement.”
He was referring to the threat of protest movements by Governor Atta Muhammad Noor, who warned there would be a storm of agitation if his leader Dr. Abdullah was declared a loser.
sks/mud
