KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2019) Afghan presidential hopeful Hakim Tursan, who stands out among his competitors for having neither a campaign headquarters nor high-ranking position on his resume, told Sputnik in an interview that he is "100 percent" sure that he will win the hearts and votes of the people and does not see a rival among other candidates.
Tursan, an ethnic Uzbek who served in an intelligence agency under Soviet-era President Mohammad Najibullah, is widely snubbed by media as an outsider in ongoing race. Unlike many of his 15 competitors, he has never held any high office nor has a powerful party behind him. He is nevertheless confident that nobody could outperform him.
However, Tursan is up against some stiff competition. The front-runners are incumbent Ashraf Ghani, a Western-educated anthropologist who led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery after the collapse of the Taliban government as finance minister in 2000s; Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister who previously ran in two contested elections; and former warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who twice served as prime minister during the 1990s and is considered one of the most controversial presidential contenders.
Despite all this, Tursan has not given up hope as believes that the past of all his rivals put them to shame, while he is completely innocent.
"I have a program for these people to take our society from trouble and will finish by subduing [all those] powerful and warlords. People know all the candidates, and I have no bad background. That's why people trust me. Other candidates who collect people to their meetings ... pay money so that they participate in their meetings ... I have a campaign office in every home and it works for me. So I'm 100 percent [going to be the] next president," Tursan said.
Tursan, who does not have a traditional campaign headquarters and has only held one election rally, believes that he is "in the hearts of the people," with the other candidates not around to challenge him.
"President Ghani is not my rival and cannot compete with me, President Ghani spent $140 million on [his] campaign to reach my stage but has not arrived, because I am in the hearts of the people," he asserted.
Asked whether he had any international support for his candidacy, Tursan rejected the notion that anyone other than the Afghan people should have a say in the electoral process.
"I am an Afghan, there is no need for the US, London or Pakistan to raise my victory hand, I want to win by the people's vote and for the Afghan people to raise my victory hand. If I deal with them [outside forces], then I could not work in a free and independent way," he argued.
Further dwelling on foreign policy, the presidential candidate vowed to remain independent from major powers.
"I am committed to the interests of my country � not to Russia for the benefit of the United States or to the US for Russia's interests. We will have parallel relations with all countries and we will respect the relations," Tursan said.
He, at the same, argued that Afghanistan needed a foreign military presence since "our forces are not yet capable, don't have enough facilities to protect whole country and fight against terrorist groups alone."
ATTITUDE TO FRONT-RUNNERS: UNFIT EVEN AS WAITERS
Reflecting on the role that Ghani and his main rival, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, could play if he won the election, Tursan painted a rather dismal picture.
"Ghani and Abdullah will be set up as waiters at the hotel, but I believe they will steal bread at the hotel. Both of them made so many mistakes in government, they don't have achievements. Now they throw the blame on each other," he said.
On the whole, he vowed that all "villains will account for all their mistakes" under his government.
As for his economic program, Tursan pledged to purge governmental agencies of "thieves and corruption."
"If revenue sources are properly managed, the income graph will automatically go higher," the presidential candidate opined.
In addition, Tursan unveiled his plans to create a national self-sufficient electricity energy system.
"We are against the fact that our light switch is in other countries. We will manage our water and build power dams. Foreign investors are ready to invest in electricity; we have good environment for solar and sun electricity," he argued.
SOCIAL JUSTICE AS MAIN RECIPE FOR PEACE
Tursan has a recipe for reaching sustainable peace with the Taliban movement, which controls a significant part of the country: rule and order should be brought to Afghanistan. The presidential candidate did not provide specifics as to how this would get done, though.
"The Taliban do not make peace with this government because they cannot reach anyone, so the Taliban are not stupid to make peace with a government that does not rule. When I destroy internal spies and bury them in the graves, no country can oppose peace. When social justice arises, there is no pretext for war," he argued.
The presidential candidate was therefore convinced that the Taliban would sit down at the negotiating table with him.
"When there is justice and a job opportunity, what else would the Taliban want other than talk about peace? When the Taliban have a peaceful life in Kabul, they will wish that they had made peace earlier and had not killed people. When there is illegal armed activity, the Taliban are never ready to make peace," he added.
CURRENT LACK OF SECURITY 'ARTIFICIAL'?
The election in Afghanistan, scheduled for this Saturday after being delayed two times, comes amid difficult security conditions. Long before the vote, the Taliban started to intimidate the people and carry out scattered explosions, especially at polling places and locations where the key candidates gather. Tursan believes that his main rivals, Ghani and Abdullah, were behind all these developments as they wanted to scare people into voting for them as soon as possible. Tursan vowed to protect the election from such fraud.
"Insecurity is artificial. Abdullah's and Ghani's teams have created chaos in some areas for themselves to commit fraud, but I do not allow anyone to interfere with the election process for their own benefit. We believe and want ... people to vote and prevent others from fraud," he claimed.
Afghanistan has faced a wave of attacks in the run-up to Saturday's election, with the Taliban movement claiming responsibility for the lion's share of them.
The rise in violence has stoked concerns that the vote may be delayed once again. However, the incumbent president has vowed that the election will be held as scheduled.
