Wolesi Jirga&Provincial Council Elections 2005 Afghanistan

AFGHAN GOVERNORESS URGES WOMEN TO RUN FOR PARLIAMENT

Afghanistan's first female governor Habiba Surabi is calling on women across Afghanistan to come forward and nominate themselves as candidates for the September 18 Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council elections.

Governor Surabi, whose appointment to the governorship of the central highlands province of Bamyan earlier this year made history in Afghanistan, said the October 2004 Presidential Elections had been “revolutionary” for Afghan women.

“The high turnout of women voters for the Presidential Elections exceeded all our expectations,” Governor Surabi said.

“It was truly revolutionary for the women to turn up to vote in such numbers. What we need now is for women to come forward and nominate themselves as candidates so that their voices will be heard in parliament and at a provincial level.”

More than one quarter of the seats in the Wolesi Jirga (the Lower House of the National Assembly) and each of the 34 Provincial Councils have been set aside for women.

Candidates for both elections must submit their nomination forms by May 19 to the JEMB Candidate Nomination office in the province they wish to represent.

Governor Surabi said that a number of women, in Bamyan and in other parts of Afghanistan , had come to her seeking advice about running for office.

“I have given them all the encouragement I could to stand, because their voices must be heard,” she said.

“There are certain important matters, such as female and child health, and customs such as forced marriages, where women will be pressing for change.”

With women assured of 68 of the Wolesi Jirga's 249 seats, Surabi is confident they can form a powerful block that will push for change.

Across the river from Governor Surabi's office, the female students of Bamyan University burst with pride at having a woman as governor. They want to see more women involved in politics.

“She is a role model for us,” said 20-year-old Fatima Fahimi, an agricultural engineering student. “She shows us that women can stand shoulder to shoulder with men and rebuild our country.”

The University counts only six women among more than 200 students -- a direct result of the “lost years” for women under the Taliban, when they were forced indoors and banned from studying. The women who have made it to the university were schooled secretly at home by their families.

“The rebuilding of Afghanistan will take many years, as will the struggle for women's rights,” said lecturer Zobirdha Raza who is planning to contest the next parliamentary elections.

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