Afghanistan Marches On
Ambassador Said T. Jawad
Far Eastern Economic Review
06/04/2004
In January, exactly a month after the second anniversary
of the historic Bonn Agreement, President Hamid Karzai signed
Afghanistan’s new constitution into law. This marked another
milestone on the path towards peace and stability in Afghanistan,
as envisaged by the agreement.
The first cornerstone was laid by President Karzai two years
ago, when he addressed participants of the Bonn conference by
satellite phone from a cold hut in the mountains of the southern
province of Uruzgan, while fighting the Taliban. He asked the
participants not to refer to him as a Pashtun leader, but as
an Afghan; a citizen of Afghanistan. This statement deeply moved
Afghans. Even as many worried that Afghanistan’s recent
history of war and violence would hobble the country’s
march toward future, President Karzai placed his faith on national
unity. A few weeks later, Kabul fell and he entered the city.
He built further on the foundation he had laid, and made his
second most important statement. President Karzai could have
entered the capital as a warrior victor, escorted by tribal
leaders or a few thousand armed men; but he opted to enter Kabul
alone, as a civilian, as an unarmed man of peace. He knew that
factionalism and a show of force would only beget violence and
nurture tyranny. The people of Afghanistan embraced both statements
as a clear break with the past, and this is how Afghanistan
has chosen to chart its future.
President Karzai, with the assistance of the international community,
has managed to turn this war-torn, once-neglected and isolated
country into a centre for international cooperation. Afghanistan
is emerging as a model for state building, with its new constitution
providing the best possible blend of respect for Islamic and
traditional values of Afghan society and adherence to international
norms of human rights. Afghanistan’s new constitution
is the most progressive charter in the region, and rightly has
been called “the most enlightened constitution in Islamic
countries.” It provides for equal rights and full participation
of women in rebuilding a nation-state in Afghanistan.
The new constitution achieves the objective of building a strong
central executive branch to keep the country together and rebuild
national institutions destroyed by three decades of war and
violence, with full consideration for the wishes of the provinces
to exercise more liberty and authority in managing their local
affairs. For instance, while the constitution is based on unitary
system with a strong presidency, Articles 138 through 140 provides
for the formation of provincial and district level councils
to empower the people to participate in the local administration.
For the first time, the constitution pays due respect to the
cultural and lingual diversity in a fragile society and makes
all major languages official in the area that such languages
are spoken by a majority. The new constitution further reveals
that the values and tradition of Islam and democracy can be
compatible, and mutually reinforcing. Afghanistan’s successful
advance on the path to democracy and state building will inevitably
impact the expectations and the aspirations of people in other
arenas of the global war against terror and tyranny. A democratic
Afghanistan is providing the future blueprint of Democracy in
similar societies.
The constitution proved that the relatively little investment
that the U.S. and the international community have made to rebuild
national institutions in Afghanistan has already yielded impressive
results.
The next milestone for President Karzai is to implement the
new constitution and hold country’s first national election.
Many challenges face us, achieving complete victory over terrorism
by building our security institutions and preventing cross-border
terrorist infiltration, implementing the demobilization, disarmament
and reintegration program, preventing the extremists and warlords
from high-jacking the democratic process, eliminating corruption,
and the narcotics production and trade, and strengthening security
outside the capital by expanding the presence of the International
Security Assistance Force and/or Provincial Reconstructing Teams
in order to successfully organize the first national and democratic
election in the country. The implementation of the new constitution
will accelerate the formation of national institutions, strengthen
rule of law and good governance, reduces investment risks, encourage
growth of private sector, enhance people’s participation
and enable the government to reach out every corner of the country
to deliver services. To overcome these challenges Afghans need
and demand accelerated support and sustained engagement by the
U.S. and the international community
As proven by the new constitution, President Karzai is real
national leader to lead the march of the Afghan people toward
a tolerant and peaceful society and unified and prosperous country.
