I just got a Facebook invite to join yet another group. The
message caught my eye: "Afghanistan's Obama, a candidate for change, who will
stand against injustice, vows to empower minorities and curtail corruption."
The candidate, Ramazan Bashardost, hopes he can duplicate
the magic of "The One." But coming from a Hazara background, in a country long
dominated by the Pashtun and Tajik ethnic groups, he is starting off as an
underdog in the presidential race.
As Afghans look to the West for leadership, Bashardost is
one of several politicians emulating Obama and borrowing from his campaign's
marketing strategy. The Facebook groups that are popping up daily for each of
the forty hopefuls have one common goal: to mobilize a grassroots movement and
lead their constituents to vote.
The August elections will be the second time since 2004 that
Afghans show the world how they can organize a free and fair vote and put
Kalashnikovs aside. In a country with one of the highest illiteracy rates and
an ancient culture steeped in oral tradition, "word-of-mouth" is more than
marketing talk. Will Facebook, as the modernized version of the village square,
help generate enough buzz for an upstart candidate to become a viable
alternative to the current front-runner, Hamid Karzai? The candidates hope that
their messages are as well received among Afghans as Obama's were for
Americans.
Of Afghanistan's estimated 32 million people, more than half
are between the ages of 18 and 34, making the youth voting bloc even more
crucial than it was in Obama's win last November.
With more than 8 million cell phones and more than a
half-million Internet subscribers in Afghanistan, a figure that is expected to
grow exponentially, Facebook is poised as an incubator for civic dialogue.
Along with Bashardost, other presidential candidates with a
visible presence on Facebook include many technocrats whose families live in
exile. Take for example, Ashraf Ghani, the most popular on Facebook and someone
likely to challenge Karzai as election day nears. Then there's Sayed Jalal, a
child prodigy who dropped out of Columbia University at age 13 and moved to
Saudi Arabia. Jalal, a conservative candidate, plans to invoke Sharia Law and
negotiate a deal with the Taliban.
Facebook may not goes as far as to usher in good governance
or quell the Taliban re-insurgency in Afghanistan, but what it is doing is
giving a louder voice to the forces of civil society (i.e. ordinary Afghans)
and a way for the people of this landlocked country to circumvent extremists
and build the foundations for a stable political apparatus. A successful
election may leave Afghan warlords, Islamic clerics, and the Taliban with no
option but to join the modern "Facebook" age. Only then will the American and
NATO mission in Afghanistan be accomplished.
Transforming Afghanistan into a prosperous democracy is
necessary for the sake of America's position in the world. With the help of
Facebook, Afghans now have a venue to share ideas. By choosing a government
that values transparency, addresses human rights, and meets the basic needs of
the people, America might just regain its standing as a nation famous for its
rule of law.
Helping Afghans to get there, though, will require patience,
in order for the next generation to uplift the country. In the meantime,
Afghans are pushing the electoral process forward by learning from Obama's
campaign blueprint. The candidate who is the most vigilant in canvassing
Facebook, and who uses this venue to develop a world-class brand, might become
the next leader of the Afghan people.
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