VZCZCXRO5002
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #1111/01 1230941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 030941Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8706
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001111 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV AF
SUBJECT: WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?: FEMALE REGISTRATION FOR 
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS 
 
REF: A. KABUL 1094 
     ¶B. KABUL 998 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Since the April 25 opening of the two-week 
candidate registration period, over 500 individuals have 
registered as provincial council (PC) candidates for the 
August elections.  The Independent Election Commission's 
(IEC) initial reports on candidate registration indicate, 
however, that few women are signing up.  In six provinces - 
Paktya, Paktika, Khost, Nuristan, Uruzgan and Kandahar - no 
female candidates have yet emerged.  Other provinces have 
only a few female candidates, and in many provinces female 
incumbents have yet to step forward.  Post is coordinating 
with the IEC, women's civil society organizations, and 
supportive political leaders to urge potential female 
candidates to register before the May 8 deadline.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
WOMEN CANDIDATES WELCOME, BUT... 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The electoral law reserves 25 percent of provincial 
council seats for women; if no female candidates participate 
in the elections, the seats will remain empty.  According to 
UNIFEM, four provincial councils have unclaimed women's seats 
from the 2005 provincial council elections.  The IEC noted on 
the second day of candidate registration that women account 
for only 30 of the 478 PC registration packages collected by 
potential candidates.  PC candidate registration (ref A) 
requires only that an applicant be at least 18 years old, 
hold Afghan citizenship for at least 10 years, show evidence 
of support from 200 voters and pay a 4,000 Afs (USD 85) 
registration fee. 
 
SECURITY, OBSCURITY, DISILLUSIONMENT LIMITING PARTICIPATION 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Opinions differ as to the biggest stumbling block 
for female candidates.  The IEC cites the limited mandate and 
poor public opinion of PCs as the main detriment, while 
female MPs suggest security concerns and lack of information 
as restricting candidates.  On April 29, Afghan Women's 
Council director Fatana Gailani told poloff that security 
concerns were the primary obstacle preventing women from 
running in the provincial council elections. Responding to 
poloff's question as to why there were not yet female 
candidates in provinces that are considered relatively safe, 
such as Panjshir, Gailani stated that many families would use 
poor security as an excuse to bar women from running even if 
it was not a serious concern.  Gailani also speculated that 
many potential female candidates were uninterested in the 
provincial council races because they perceived the PCs as 
weak institutions lacking a clear political mandate. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On April 30, Lower House MP Qadria Yasdanparast 
(Kabul, Tajik) likewise speculated to poloffs that security 
concerns were preventing female candidate registration.  She 
also suggested that the IEC's public outreach for candidate 
registration (ref B) was insufficient.  The same day, Post 
learned that three sitting female PC members from Kandahar 
were interested in registering to run again.  The women, then 
in Kabul, nonetheless feared for their security if required 
to return to Kandahar to register as candidates. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Separately, Lower House MP Tahera Meherzada 
(Kapisa, Tajik), chairwoman of the women's affairs committee, 
agreed that insecurity and fears of political violence 
prevented some women from running for provincial council 
slots.  She believes that PCs are perceived as heavily 
influenced by the executive branch rather than as independent 
bodies. Potential candidates are reluctant to vie for these 
positions, skeptical that if elected, they would be allowed 
to carry out their responsibilities.  Meherzada said public 
awareness campaigns could be helpful in attracting more women 
candidates as each province has hundreds of potential 
candidates, but without more support they will remain silent. 
 
 
ENCOURAGEMENT INITIATIVES 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) On April 27 the Afghan Women's Network hosted IEC 
External Relations Director M. Farid Afghanzai for a 
discussion on increasing the number of female candidates in 
the PC elections.   Afghanzai gave the 75 attendees, 
representing different women's advocacy NGOs, an overview of 
the PC candidate requirements and distributed candidate 
enrollment paperwork.  He told the attendees that to date 
only 49 women had picked up provincial council candidate 
forms from the IEC and in some provinces, there were no women 
candidates.  Afghanzai urged the women present to identify 
 
KABUL 00001111  002 OF 002 
 
 
potential candidates and encourage them to run. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Several MPs, including Deputy Speaker of the 
Meshrano Jirga Mirwais Yaseni (Nangarhar, Pashtun) say they 
will mobilize volunteers to recruit female PC candidates. 
Yasdanparast suggested MPs could engage IDLG Director Jelani 
Popal to promote public governor support for female candidate 
registration.  Yasdanparast said that she would organize 
women MPs to encourage additional registrations.  MPs Fawzia 
Koofi (Badakhshan, Tajik) and Shukria Barakzai (Kabul, 
Pashtun) were alarmed at the low number of women registering 
as candidates, and are activating their network of supporters 
to identify and encourage greater participation.  Barakzai 
called for the Ministry of Women's Affairs to play a lead 
role in encouraging more women candidates and urged civil 
society groups not to leave the ministry out of the loop. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) We likewise are engaging with the IEC, civil 
society and through our PRTs to encourage female candidates 
to register.  To support the IEC's publicity efforts, the 
Embassy will fund a series of radio spots encouraging women 
to run in the provincial council races.  Embassy officers are 
highlighting the importance of women's participation in the 
electoral process - both as voters and candidates - in 
meetings with representatives of women's NGOs and government 
officials.  Our PRTs will reach out to sitting female PC 
members to find out if they will stand for reelection and to 
discuss the reasoning behind their decisions; we will report 
on this SEPTEL. 
 
SOME REASONS FOR OPTIMISM 
-------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Republican Party (secular, multi-ethnic) Senior 
Women's Affairs Advisor Adelah Bahram said her party will run 
female candidates in Kabul, Nangarhar, Helmand, Sar-e-Pul, 
Balkh, and Herat PC races.  The party had identified 
candidates for these races and was assisting them in 
obtaining the 200 required signatures and completing the 
registration paperwork. Bahram was confident her party's 
candidates would complete the IEC registration process by May 
¶8.  Republican Party Chairman Sebghatullah Sanjar said the 
party would register female candidates in provinces where 
they would win by default in the absence of other 
challengers.  UNAMA representatives also report that in 2005, 
female candidates waited to register until the end of the 
registration period. 
RICCIARDONE