Governor Musa Akbarzada says Ghazni province may not be ready for next year's presidential and provincial elections because residents of some districts could face intimidation at the hands of insurgents.
He said the security situation in Giro, Ajristan, Rashidan and Nawa -- all Pashtuns-dominated towns -- has been volatile.
In 2009, Ghazni had half an election, with ethnic Pashtuns staying indoors after being threatened by the Taliban, a Pashtun-dominated movement, enabling a rival group -- the Hazara -- to sweep all 11 parliamentary seats, amid allegations of ballot stuffing and payoffs.
After the results, unsuccessful Pashtuns candidates claimed their votes had been stolen. They warned their people could move closer to the Taliban owing to poll rigging and low turnout.
Pashtuns dominate 14 Ghazni districts, with a vast majority living in Andar, Qarabagh and Muqar, but these districts saw no voter turnout, paving the ground for the rebels to claim the province bit by bit.
The Hazara benefited from a system in which the top 11 vote-getters across the province, where three seats were reserved for women, were declared elected.
Famous for its Islamic sites, Ghazni has a population of 1.1 million people, but 115 of the 272 polling centers stayed shut or had their results invalidated in the previous elections.  In Andar, only three votes were cast.
Governors
Over the past decade, Ghazni has seen eight governors come and go. Some managed to stay in the governor's house for only three months before being removed.
In December 2001, Qari Baba was appointed as Ghazni governor in Transitional Administration that was established in June and July 2002. He was replaced following the election in 2004. Akbarzada, who replaced Osmani in May 2010, is the current governor.         
The frequent replacements have had a deep effect on Ghazni’s development, as some projects initiated by past governors, were left incomplete by their successors. They knew well about their short stay in office. Such schemes were ignored throughout the past decade.
There have been allegations that some governors spent their time making money through different means, leaving their official work to be done by non-professional staff.
Some governors deliberately left projects incomplete because they had been inaugurated by their predecessors, who would claim the credit.  The situation overshadowed efforts at preparing Ghazni City to serve as the Asian capital of the Islamic civilisation.
Needless to say, the governors also paid little attention to improving the security situation. Intriguingly, some of them were removed before they could travel to districts.
Taking advantage of the situation, the Taliban regrouped and extended their influence to the provincial capital, where they have been joined by certain other circles. The insurgents started targeting influential figures who they considered a threat to their existence.
One of them was Abdul Rahim Desiwal, the Andar district chief, who maintained close contact with tribal elders and locals. He had survived a number of assassination attacks, but was finally killed on December 1, 2008 in Ghazni City.
His murder was part of a series of target killings by the Taliban who have closed most of schools in the province. As official attention toward the province grows weaker, land-grab mafia emerged and became so powerful that it could now challenge the government.
Official sources say up to 50 acres of state land is being grabbed in Ghazni on a daily basis. Former jihadi commanders, who have been posted to government positions, have seized a vast desert west of Ghazni City.
It has been observed the land-grab mafia buy and give motorcycles to the Taliban to escape their wrath. In return, the rebels support their actions.
When Andar residents staged an uprising against the Taliban, it was this mafia that forced the government not to support the movement leaders, who later suffered at lot at the hands of fighters.
Governor Akbarzada says residents of some districts could not vote in the previous polls due intimidation by insurgents, but the situation in the troubled districts had improved. He hoped the people would be able to cast their votes this time around.
Akbarzada said though threats remained, yet they could be overcome in the lead-up to the elections. However, he did not explain how the situation would be turned around.
The government needs to focus on lending a boost to the capacity of its departments in Ghazni. It has to launch a massive crackdown on land-grab mafia. Though the job is tough, yet the government has no other option to exercise.
If the capacity of government departments does not improve, no voting could take place in 14 districts of the province.