1.2 mln women to vote for President in Afghanistan this April

Kabul. March 17. Silkroadnews – Women constitute about a half of populationin Afghanistan. Majority of them decided to cast the votes in upcoming elections, AfTAG reports.

According to the data of IEC (Independent Electoral Commission), around 1.2 mln women are planning to vote. However, it is still equivalent to about 50% of male-voters that planning to vote.

It has been reported that during the last elections women felt compelled to vote the same way that their male relatives were voting.

“When I was voting last time, my father told me what candidate to vote for. However, now I know that it is my right to choose who will serve the country”, thinks Nadera Hamidi from Kabul.

The majority of women in Kabul hope that their voices will matter in the upcoming elections. “I have an optimistic outlook, elections is the renewed hope for me, my family and friends”, says Veda Saber from Kabul.

Nevertheless, as the head of the Women Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, Fawzia Koofi, notices candidates are simply using women’s agenda for PR purposes. There are no serious projects proposed that would considerably shift status quo in the country. There are no female Presidential candidates this year, but there are 3 female candidates for the vice-presidential post, so there is some incremental improvements, as she also notices.

Presidential elections are to be held on the 5th of April. There are 9 candidates for the post. This is an unprecedented moment in the history of modern Afghanistan, as this will be the first democratically elected leader.