3 Dec 2024
Publish Date
Monday 28 September 2020 - 13:11
recommended
0
The roots of public distrust to the Afghan government
Almost 19 years have passed since the fall of the Taliban regime and formation of a new government in Afghanistan. But, despite the country's progress, the place of "public trust" as one of the most important factors of political development is empty. In the post-Taliban era, people still do not trust in the government. Injustice, discrimination, corruption, insecurity, the existence of ethnic and transnational identities, foreign interventions, and domestic political differences are the main factors that have created the current situation.
By: Aryan pourghadiri
Nineteen years has passed since the fall of the Taliban and the formation of a national government in Afghanistan. But, despite all the progress that the country has made, the place of "trust to government" as one of the most important factors of political development is still empty. Why are the people of this country still distrustful to their government despite all the political and economic progress that Afghanistan has made since the Taliban era? What are the reasons of this skepticism? What are the effects of this suspicion over Afghanistan's political development?
One of the most important obstacles to political development in Afghanistan is the people's distrust to the government. Many people in the country are skeptical about official institutions. According to a 2013 poll, one in four Afghan citizens believes that the military is corrupt. This view primarily will hinder the people’s cooperation with the government and its related institutions, and ultimately will block the country’s political development. So, what is the root of this mistrust?
Political differences
The political differences and ensuing controversies have greatly affected the public trust to the government and the political system, because the constant disclosure and character assassinations of political figures will create a feeling that there is no transparency and that the deals are being made behind the scene. This would push the society towards the discouraging conclusion that the root of all the political conflicts is gaining power not serving the nation. And it makes society distrustful and hopeless about the whole political system. Moreover, the current divisions within the establishment have hurt the government’s efficiency because much of its time and energy should be spent on resolving the political disputes. The Taliban is also abusing this situation to show the people that the national government is not able to fulfill its promises.
The government’s inability to provide security
According to a 2015 poll by Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, the people consider insecurity as their most important problem of the country. The Afghan national government, which came to power following the US invasion and the fall of the Taliban, has shown a weak performance in providing security and this has caused public distrust. According to the UN surveys, 70% of violent crimes in Afghanistan take place in areas controlled by the central government.
In 2001, what didn’t provoke the Afghan people to stand up against the US invasion was the tyranny of the Taliban and the seeds of insecurity and terror that it sowed in the hearts of the people. When the national government came to power, the least expectation from the government was to provide security, especially in the face of the Taliban, something that unfortunately remained unfulfilled. Now, the Taliban has about 50,000 to 60,000 troops and is still busy with its terrorist operations. According to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, from 2009 to 2019, a total of 86,823 civilians were killed and wounded in the country. Also according to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees, 70,596 families were displaced as a result of war and insecurity in 2019.
Ethnic identities
In Afghanistan, due to incomplete state-nation building, ethnicity is much stronger than nationalism. For this reason, every government comes to power with any ethnicity, cannot garner the trust and loyalty of other ethnic groups because the people know that in their country ethnic interests take precedence over national interests.
Afghanistan's population is made up of different ethnicities. Pashtuns make up 42% of the country's population. They are followed by Tajiks with 27%, Hazaras with 9%, Uzbeks with 9%, Aimaqs with 4%, Turkmens with 3%, Baluchis with 2%, and other small ethnic groups with 4%. In this country, there is a constant struggle between the Pashtuns and other ethnic groups- such as the Hazaras, Tajiks, and Uzbeks- over political power and in most of the cases the Pashtuns are the winners. This has provided the ground for Ethnic violent behaviors among other ethnic groups, and also lack of empathy and trust towards a system that is not perceived as the representative or supporter of the public interests.
Transnational identities
The IS-K (the branch of the ISIS in Afghanistan and Pakistan) and the Taliban are two transnational identities operating in Afghanistan via using militants from different nationalities as well as foreign intellectual and financial sources. These two groups are constantly trying to drive a wedge between the government and the nation and recruit new members by questioning the government's abilities. Now, nearly 19 years after the invasion of the US-led coalition to Afghanistan, the Taliban are still operating in 70% of the country, of which 4% is under the full control of the group. The Taliban seek to establish an Islamic Emirate based on their own Interpretation of Islam. In this way, they consider any obstacle, including a national government, as an enemy which should be weakened and discredited.
The IS-K, with about 5,000 to 7,000 militants, is the other transnational group. The ultimate goal of this multinational group is to create an Islamic Caliphate which has basically nothing to do with the nation-state phenomenon. In all the countries in which the ISIS is operating, it tries to weaken the government and make the people feel disappointed about the political system and its goals.
The presence of the IS-K and the Taliban, in addition to the above-mentioned points, has reduced the public confidence in the Afghan government in another way. Since the beginning of its formation, the national government has shown that it is not capable of controlling the IS-K and the Taliban as well as protecting the people against the extremist groups. This has made the people to doubt the government’s ability to provide security and pushed them towards their own tribes as sources of peace and stability.
Injustice and discrimination
Injustice, both in terms of inequality in benefiting from financial resources as well as inequality in access to opportunities, has had a profound effect on the Afghan people's trust in the government. Given the fact that the power structure in Afghanistan is a tribal one, it is not surprising to see the equations be constantly in favor of the dominant tribe. So, this systematic discrimination not only would lead to public distrust but also would sow the seeds of hatred among the people. In such a situation, the unjust distribution of wealth and opportunities destroys the sense of having a common destiny, demolishes people’s empathy, and ultimately brings the country’s democracy to a standstill. Why should people get involved with a political system that only cares about the interests of a certain tribe?
Moreover, one can mention gender discrimination as one of the other manifestations of injustice in Afghanistan. Today, despite the efforts of the Afghan government and the support of the international community, the Afghan women still face deep crises and challenges, and violence still takes a toll on women. These issues have deprived the government from the support and trust of half of the country's population, which are women.
Corruption
One of the main reasons why the people of Afghanistan do not trust the government is the current corruption in the administrative and executive apparatus. In 2019, Afghanistan was one of the 10 countries with the highest level of corruption. The issue of corruption is very rampant, especially in the military and security sectors. In May 2015, Newsweek reported that some 460,000 weapons provided by the Pentagon to Afghan security forces had disappeared and been sold to the Taliban. According to Transparency International, 51 percent of Afghans have bribed police at least once. Another example of corruption in the government apparatus is nepotism. For example, many local officials are selected not on the basis of public preference or individual merit, but on the basis of personal relationships, and are not accepted and trusted by local people, and this dissatisfaction sometimes paves the way for locals to cooperate with the Taliban. In fact, the people who do not consider the leaders as their representatives and think that their activities are not in the national interest but in their own personal interests, have not the slightest desire to cooperate with government. So, people may take the path of indifference or opposition, and this is the ground for division between government and nation.
Presence of foreign forces
The presence of the American forces in Afghanistan has impaired the national pride of the people. Especially, as the people of Afghanistan now see the American forces not as a savior but as part of their problems. The Afghans, once being targeted by the Taliban, are now suffering the attacks of both the Taliban and the US forces. Every year, a large number of civilians in this country die as a result of night operations and airstrikes by the US troops. According to the UN Special Representative, more than 100,000 civilians have been killed during the conflicts in the country since 2009, mostly by the US forces and their allies. So, we can say that the presence of foreign forces has not promoted the country’s stability, with nearly half of Afghanistan’s territory is still under the control and oppression of the Taliban. When people witness the presence of foreign forces and the violation of their national sovereignty on the one hand, and the government's silence and inaction on the other, they would definitely lose their faith in the patriotism and independence of the country’s leaders.
Conclusion
Political trust is one of the most important assets of any political system. Public trust to political system would create solidarity, stability and legitimacy through pushing the nation towards more interaction as well as support of the political decisions. Meanwhile, political distrust would lead to lack of public support, ignoring the law, low political participation, violent and non-civilized protests, and ultimately the crisis of legitimacy. What builds people's confidence in a political system is their belief in the efficiency of the system and its honesty. If a society concludes that the ruling system is unable to meet their economic and security needs and that it is running on the basis of secrecy and non-transparency, then it will lose its desire to support the establishment. Therefore, the government would lose its social assets and the country's political arena becomes a place for tension and conflict. A government that is deprived of having people’s trust would definitely face serious troubles in advancing its plans and, consequently, either should spend a lot of time and money or must abandon them.
Nineteen years after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, some factors such as injustice, discrimination, corruption, insecurity, the existence of transnational and ethnic identities, the presence of foreigners, and internal conflicts are still hindering people’s trust in government. These factors have caused the Afghan nation to lose its belief in the efficiency of the ruling system and made the people not only not to side with the government, but also go towards passivity or rebellion.
Arian Pourqadiri is PhD student in Political Sociology
Nineteen years has passed since the fall of the Taliban and the formation of a national government in Afghanistan. But, despite all the progress that the country has made, the place of "trust to government" as one of the most important factors of political development is still empty. Why are the people of this country still distrustful to their government despite all the political and economic progress that Afghanistan has made since the Taliban era? What are the reasons of this skepticism? What are the effects of this suspicion over Afghanistan's political development?
One of the most important obstacles to political development in Afghanistan is the people's distrust to the government. Many people in the country are skeptical about official institutions. According to a 2013 poll, one in four Afghan citizens believes that the military is corrupt. This view primarily will hinder the people’s cooperation with the government and its related institutions, and ultimately will block the country’s political development. So, what is the root of this mistrust?
Political differences
The political differences and ensuing controversies have greatly affected the public trust to the government and the political system, because the constant disclosure and character assassinations of political figures will create a feeling that there is no transparency and that the deals are being made behind the scene. This would push the society towards the discouraging conclusion that the root of all the political conflicts is gaining power not serving the nation. And it makes society distrustful and hopeless about the whole political system. Moreover, the current divisions within the establishment have hurt the government’s efficiency because much of its time and energy should be spent on resolving the political disputes. The Taliban is also abusing this situation to show the people that the national government is not able to fulfill its promises.
The government’s inability to provide security
According to a 2015 poll by Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, the people consider insecurity as their most important problem of the country. The Afghan national government, which came to power following the US invasion and the fall of the Taliban, has shown a weak performance in providing security and this has caused public distrust. According to the UN surveys, 70% of violent crimes in Afghanistan take place in areas controlled by the central government.
In 2001, what didn’t provoke the Afghan people to stand up against the US invasion was the tyranny of the Taliban and the seeds of insecurity and terror that it sowed in the hearts of the people. When the national government came to power, the least expectation from the government was to provide security, especially in the face of the Taliban, something that unfortunately remained unfulfilled. Now, the Taliban has about 50,000 to 60,000 troops and is still busy with its terrorist operations. According to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, from 2009 to 2019, a total of 86,823 civilians were killed and wounded in the country. Also according to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees, 70,596 families were displaced as a result of war and insecurity in 2019.
Ethnic identities
In Afghanistan, due to incomplete state-nation building, ethnicity is much stronger than nationalism. For this reason, every government comes to power with any ethnicity, cannot garner the trust and loyalty of other ethnic groups because the people know that in their country ethnic interests take precedence over national interests.
Afghanistan's population is made up of different ethnicities. Pashtuns make up 42% of the country's population. They are followed by Tajiks with 27%, Hazaras with 9%, Uzbeks with 9%, Aimaqs with 4%, Turkmens with 3%, Baluchis with 2%, and other small ethnic groups with 4%. In this country, there is a constant struggle between the Pashtuns and other ethnic groups- such as the Hazaras, Tajiks, and Uzbeks- over political power and in most of the cases the Pashtuns are the winners. This has provided the ground for Ethnic violent behaviors among other ethnic groups, and also lack of empathy and trust towards a system that is not perceived as the representative or supporter of the public interests.
Transnational identities
The IS-K (the branch of the ISIS in Afghanistan and Pakistan) and the Taliban are two transnational identities operating in Afghanistan via using militants from different nationalities as well as foreign intellectual and financial sources. These two groups are constantly trying to drive a wedge between the government and the nation and recruit new members by questioning the government's abilities. Now, nearly 19 years after the invasion of the US-led coalition to Afghanistan, the Taliban are still operating in 70% of the country, of which 4% is under the full control of the group. The Taliban seek to establish an Islamic Emirate based on their own Interpretation of Islam. In this way, they consider any obstacle, including a national government, as an enemy which should be weakened and discredited.
The IS-K, with about 5,000 to 7,000 militants, is the other transnational group. The ultimate goal of this multinational group is to create an Islamic Caliphate which has basically nothing to do with the nation-state phenomenon. In all the countries in which the ISIS is operating, it tries to weaken the government and make the people feel disappointed about the political system and its goals.
The presence of the IS-K and the Taliban, in addition to the above-mentioned points, has reduced the public confidence in the Afghan government in another way. Since the beginning of its formation, the national government has shown that it is not capable of controlling the IS-K and the Taliban as well as protecting the people against the extremist groups. This has made the people to doubt the government’s ability to provide security and pushed them towards their own tribes as sources of peace and stability.
Injustice and discrimination
Injustice, both in terms of inequality in benefiting from financial resources as well as inequality in access to opportunities, has had a profound effect on the Afghan people's trust in the government. Given the fact that the power structure in Afghanistan is a tribal one, it is not surprising to see the equations be constantly in favor of the dominant tribe. So, this systematic discrimination not only would lead to public distrust but also would sow the seeds of hatred among the people. In such a situation, the unjust distribution of wealth and opportunities destroys the sense of having a common destiny, demolishes people’s empathy, and ultimately brings the country’s democracy to a standstill. Why should people get involved with a political system that only cares about the interests of a certain tribe?
Moreover, one can mention gender discrimination as one of the other manifestations of injustice in Afghanistan. Today, despite the efforts of the Afghan government and the support of the international community, the Afghan women still face deep crises and challenges, and violence still takes a toll on women. These issues have deprived the government from the support and trust of half of the country's population, which are women.
Corruption
One of the main reasons why the people of Afghanistan do not trust the government is the current corruption in the administrative and executive apparatus. In 2019, Afghanistan was one of the 10 countries with the highest level of corruption. The issue of corruption is very rampant, especially in the military and security sectors. In May 2015, Newsweek reported that some 460,000 weapons provided by the Pentagon to Afghan security forces had disappeared and been sold to the Taliban. According to Transparency International, 51 percent of Afghans have bribed police at least once. Another example of corruption in the government apparatus is nepotism. For example, many local officials are selected not on the basis of public preference or individual merit, but on the basis of personal relationships, and are not accepted and trusted by local people, and this dissatisfaction sometimes paves the way for locals to cooperate with the Taliban. In fact, the people who do not consider the leaders as their representatives and think that their activities are not in the national interest but in their own personal interests, have not the slightest desire to cooperate with government. So, people may take the path of indifference or opposition, and this is the ground for division between government and nation.
Presence of foreign forces
The presence of the American forces in Afghanistan has impaired the national pride of the people. Especially, as the people of Afghanistan now see the American forces not as a savior but as part of their problems. The Afghans, once being targeted by the Taliban, are now suffering the attacks of both the Taliban and the US forces. Every year, a large number of civilians in this country die as a result of night operations and airstrikes by the US troops. According to the UN Special Representative, more than 100,000 civilians have been killed during the conflicts in the country since 2009, mostly by the US forces and their allies. So, we can say that the presence of foreign forces has not promoted the country’s stability, with nearly half of Afghanistan’s territory is still under the control and oppression of the Taliban. When people witness the presence of foreign forces and the violation of their national sovereignty on the one hand, and the government's silence and inaction on the other, they would definitely lose their faith in the patriotism and independence of the country’s leaders.
Conclusion
Political trust is one of the most important assets of any political system. Public trust to political system would create solidarity, stability and legitimacy through pushing the nation towards more interaction as well as support of the political decisions. Meanwhile, political distrust would lead to lack of public support, ignoring the law, low political participation, violent and non-civilized protests, and ultimately the crisis of legitimacy. What builds people's confidence in a political system is their belief in the efficiency of the system and its honesty. If a society concludes that the ruling system is unable to meet their economic and security needs and that it is running on the basis of secrecy and non-transparency, then it will lose its desire to support the establishment. Therefore, the government would lose its social assets and the country's political arena becomes a place for tension and conflict. A government that is deprived of having people’s trust would definitely face serious troubles in advancing its plans and, consequently, either should spend a lot of time and money or must abandon them.
Nineteen years after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, some factors such as injustice, discrimination, corruption, insecurity, the existence of transnational and ethnic identities, the presence of foreigners, and internal conflicts are still hindering people’s trust in government. These factors have caused the Afghan nation to lose its belief in the efficiency of the ruling system and made the people not only not to side with the government, but also go towards passivity or rebellion.
Arian Pourqadiri is PhD student in Political Sociology
News code:2373
