MADRE Articles  Afghan Democracy is Flat-lining--And Only Women
Can Save It  Posted on: Tuesday, August 18, 2009  Keywords:
Afghanistan  By the time the first ballot is cast in
Afghanistan's August 20 election, hopes for a democratic outcome
will already be dead. The Obama Administration is billing
Afghanistan's second Parliamentary election in 30 years as a
milestone in that country's march towards democracy. But there
can be no democracy in a place where half the population is
considered the property of the other half. That's why some of
Afghanistan's toughest, most tenacious pro-democracy activists
are women. They understand that democracy is more than a
procedural election; women's rights and genuine democracy are
interdependent.   On April 12, 2009, Sitara Achakzai was gunned
down in front of her home. The motive was clear. As an elected
leader in Kandahar's provincial council, she used that position
to fight for women's human rights. Just the previous month, she
helped organize a national sit-in of thou