Naser Koshan

The importance of the new Afghan parliament

Afghan elections have always been at high risk of wide-spread corruption in the last 8 years. Despite the fact of huge fraudulent in the recent Afghan parliamentary elections, the new Afghan parliament will play a crucial role in solving some of the core issues of the country. Although, the post-war Afghanistan has only experienced a meager bit of democracy so far, but still the new elected parliament will be very important for all the stakeholders in the Afghan crisis. No doubt, the U.S. government more than any other country is looking forward for a strong and capable parliament, since a new parliament with internal autonomy and capability of controlling the deeds of the executive branch will be able to channel billions of dollars assisted to Afghanistan by the U.S. in productive and long-term infrastructural projects which I think is the only way to take Afghanistan out of this unending devastating quagmire. Regretfully the outgoing parliament of Afghanistan was mostly dominated by warlords and corrupt entities and was certainly a great barrier towards implementation of long-term concrete projects all over the country, unfortunately based on the preliminary out coming results of the recent parliamentary elections the warlords and dark forces are emerging as the top vote holders in their elected constituencies and there seems to be little spot for intellectuals and nation patriots to change the current slow pace of economic development within the country, but still the hopes are high for a new beginning.

Certainly in a parliamentary system the parliament integrates the two remaining branches of the government and brings about transparency and accountability through democratic or pressurized channels if required. So it is noteworthy that a parliament should have the capability of differentiating between national and personal interests and work tirelessly towards accelerating the pace of developmental and society benefited initiatives in any particular country, as concerning Afghanistan the importance of a strong and capable parliament is much greater than any other country since Afghanistan has just surpassed a devastating civil war and is currently  at risk of falling down to hands of those who never belonged to this country and have no mercy and  interest for development of the afghan nation and future and are only fighting for the sake of fulfilling their master’s satisfaction.

Especially, after the recent published survey by the U.S. department of state which indicates the total value of Afghanistan’s natural resources to one trillion dollars a productive parliament will be the key to maximize the profit from these granted resources and channel profitable projects towards the extraction of these minerals and provide the executive branch the required professional expertise and advice to hand over these projects to honest local and foreign ventures so that exploitation of any level by these companies is minimized.

As an economic student, I strongly support the self sufficiency of Afghanistan since only a stable and self-sufficient Afghanistan will ultimately be able to find its voice in the region and at the end of the day get rid of the current foreign high interest loan and grants.

Hoping for a stable, peaceful, democratic and self-sufficient Afghanistan!

Written by: Naser Koshan

November 2010

Washington, U.S.