Afghans set to vote despite Taliban threats, corruption

Afghans will return to the polls for parliamentary elections on Saturday, hoping to bring change to a corrupt government that has lost nearly half the country to the Taliban.

In the eight years since Afghanistan last held parliamentary elections, a resurgent Taliban have carried out near-daily attacks on security forces, seizing large swathes of the countryside and threatening major cities.

An even more radical Islamic State affiliate has launched a wave of bombings targeting the country's Shiite minority, killing hundreds. Both groups have threatened to attack anyone taking part in the vote.

In areas where the government still provides relative security, Afghans face a different array of challenges. Widespread corruption forces people to pay bribes for shabby public services, and increasingly influential ultraconservative clerics blame the country's many ills on years of Western influence, threatening to roll back the limited gains made by women and civil society since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Many of those Afghans brave enough to defy the death threats hope to vote in a new generation of younger and better-educated leaders. But they fear that former warlords and the corrupt political elite will cling to power by lavishing entertainment and cash handouts on impoverished voters.

"I am still not hopeful it will be fair," said Saeed Matin, a fruit seller in a mostly Shiite neighborhood of Kabul who was bundled up against the chilly autumn evening. He waved off the threats from the Taliban and said he hoped for new leadership, pointing to campaign posters showing younger candidates.

"They are young and educated and I wish they could do something, but 100 per cent I am worried the warlords and the corrupt people will not give them a chance," he said.

"These corrupt people are paying 3,000 Afghanis (nearly USD 50) for each vote. They are not interested in the country, only in what they can put in their pocket."
Afghanistan is ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International, which last year called efforts by President Ashraf Ghani's government to stem runaway corruption "insufficient."
"They feel that it will take time but gradually with every election it will get better. For many this election is like a practice for their future. Their energy inspires me to try to make it better."