Casting himself against Afghanistan’s entrenched political elite and powerful warlords, Faramarz Tamanna is seeking to galvanize a fresh generation of voters who have lived through near-constant conflict because the American invasion 18-years ago. The 42-year-old academic and chancellor of the University of Afghanistan are pitching his outsider credentials to the country’s war-weary youth and is the youngest of 18 presidential applicants vying for office before a Sept. What Tamanna lacks in ties to Afghan patronage networks, he hopes to constitute by sketching support from first-time voters and an educated urbanized human population he says are tired of conflict, financial insecurity, and ethnic division.
About fifty percent of the country’s 35 million people were delivered around 2001, when the Taliban’s regime was ousted by the U.S. Tamanna faces a tough fight to secure the top job among a congested field of often ruthless applicants that have long dominated Afghanistan’s political scene. With few reliable polling in the war-torn country, it’s also hard to gather how much support Tamanna is drawing among over 18s, who are credited to cast their ballot for the first time.
The poll has twice been postponed by the country’s Independent Election Commission credited to security and specialized issues. Still, it’s clear his campaign is slicing through with some young voters. “We’re sick of warlords or corrupt officials who have damaged our image in the global world,” said Jawid Azizi, 21, an economics college student at Kabul University who plans to vote for Tamanna. Fellow student Nadeem Qurbanjo, …
