Residents of eastern Kunar province want construction of a hydroelectric dam and security and stability from the upcoming president.
Kunar province shares a 260-kilometer border with Pakistan and has 14 districts.
 
Kunar province has nine seats in the provincial council and three of them are allotted for female representatives. Fifty-seven people nominated themselves for the provincial council elections, including only three women.
 
This report was based on interviews with 10 residents including three females, in the capital Asadabad and five districts of the province.
 
School principal: Government doesn’t not heed to education
 
 Gulbero, 50-year-old principal of Bebe Fatima high school in Asadabad,  said she will participate in the upcoming elections to elect the best president and provincial election member.
 
She says there has been no change in her life in the past five years. "The government has not heeded education as much as needed. The salaries of the school teachers are insufficient, no one wants to become a teacher because the basic requirements are unaffordable with this salary," she said.
 
She doesn’t believe there will be full participation of the people in the elections. She thinks probably half of the population cannot make it to polling center due to security risks.
 
Student: Rulers serve themselves
 
Farida, a 12th grade student in Bebe Fatima high school, said she will participate in the election and will also encourage her family to do so.
 
Government should focus on education, because the illiterate have caused the war, she said.
 
She doesn’t believe there will be security on the Election Day and there has been a rumour going from house to house that everyone should avoid going outside the home that day.
 
She doesn’t believe in the rulers and said: "Rulers don’t serve Afghanistan but they serve their own pockets. With all this time passed, no hydroelectric dam was constructed on the Kunar River."
 
 
Wata-Por resident: Foreign forces brought death
 
Gul Fida, 38, from Wata-Por district said he wants to vote but does not trust election results.
 
He believes the votes of his countrymen will not be effective because the powerful countries will appoint a president who is abiding by their orders.
 
Wata-Por district is close to the provincial capital and there is a base of the foreign forces among the residential houses.
 
Not a day passes that the base is not attacked, and the civilians are trapped in the conflict.
 
 
"Death is brought to our village by force; we are killed, injured and tortured by both sides and cannot overcome either of the two," he said.
 
48-year-old man: On guard all night
Sultan Mahmood Salimzoi, 48 and a resident of Kotaki village of Narang district, said he will participate in the elections and will vote for his favorite candidate.
 
He will demand that the upcoming president unite the nation and stop the interference of local and foreign enemies.
He said there has not been any positive change in his life in the past five years, but there have been some development schemes executed in the area.
He sees the lack of security as the biggest challenge and said both insurgents and foreign forces kill civilians in that area. Besides that, this violence makes the ordinary criminals more bold.
"People cannot live peacefully in their houses. Me and my sons guard our house all night long," he said.
 
25-year-old: Peace is impossible if corruption persists
 
Rohullah, 25-year-old resident of Sawki district, said there is administrative corruption because of the political patronage system of the government.
 
He would request that the president eliminate the policy of granting jobs as payment for political favors instead of based on merit.
 
He believes unless the administrative corruption is eliminated, there will be no security because the law cannot be enforced.
 
Rohullah will participate in the elections if the security is in place. But he doesn't believe in the election results because of the existence of thousands of foreign forces, and the candidate will be according to the will of foreigners, not the nation.
 
Our livelihood has developed
 
Hashmat Zhman, 25, from Asadabad said 230 construction companies and 25 NGOs were working in the province now, and so he is provided employment opportunities and his life has improved.
 
He said he and his family will participate in the elections, if the security is good.
 
Zhman demands of the president to overcome corruption, and strengthen national security forces so the foreign forces return to their countries.
 
Widow: All should participate in the elections
 
35-years-old Spozhmai from Khas Kunar district of the province who has lost her husband few years after marriage and has a son and works at a rural rehabilitation and development department in Asadabad said she will participate in the elections and demands others too because whether people participate or not the election will go on, therefore all should vote and elect an appropriate individual.
 
They have some estates left from her husband and she is working therefore her life was passing well, she said.
She believes security an overall problem and sees the problem in her region as the poor female education.
The families here are not ready to let their daughters attend schools because male are teaching in the schools. She said there were not female teachers and therefore female leave school in fourth and fifth grade.
She criticized the government that despite the great amount of river water in the province they have no electricity and charge their mobile phones in cars.
 
Young man: He will not use his right to vote
 
20-years-old Khalid Pashtonyar from Kunar's capital who studies in 12 grade of high school said he had been issued registration card but will not participate in the elections.
 
"Hundreds of innocent our countrymen are killed and injured everyday and there is no one to inquire, if we vote or not someone will be imposed on us, it will be good for us to keep our vote and not use our holy right to vote."
 
His life has improved and his father serves the government and his brother runs a business.
 
Despite the existence of the foreign and local security forces there was no security in the area and they had to safeguard their house every night, he added.
 
He will ask the president why the innocent are killed in the country, if he faces the president anytime.
 
 
Trader: Candidates are in foreigner's service
 
26-years old Abdullah a trader said he will not participate in the coming elections because in his war-stricken nation more than three dozen candidates are running for presidential post.
 
"We are wondering how to find a mouthful of food and these candidates expenditure tolls millions of dollars in one week's campaign, they are loyal to foreigners and no one who wins the elections can change the situation and the locals will continue to be killed in the same way," he said.
 
He believes very few people will walk to polling centers to vote due to the poor security.
 
He sees the elections as nothing more than an opera, but says he will take part in the provincial council elections because they know council candidates and know who the good candidates are.
He will ask the president where the billions of dollars that have been funded to Afghanistan were spent.
 
A water dam was surveyed during Daud Khan in Sara Taq of Asmar of Kunar province that was expected to produce 2,000 megawatts of electricity but still they were waiting for the electricity.
"Our unprofessional officials extend the Tajikistan electricity lines, while our Kunar River has enough water that it has washed away our crops, we have seen its damages but the advantage is taken by others."
 
The ministry of agriculture, irrigation and livestock has sent a 1,000 kilowatt generator to their area but it consumes 220 liters fuel in an hour.
"If we participate in the elections or not, unprofessional and illiterate people will be imposed as ministers on us," he said.
 
Governmental employee: Constitution is not enforced
 
22-year old Fazil Ahmad Safi who serves as journalist for the national radio and television is willing to participate in the elections.
 
He intends to vote for the candidate who would implement the constitutional law in a balanced manner.
 
"High-ups implement the law only on the poor, as with the seven years passed, the law has yet to be enforced and the powerful are still enjoying their power."