With the start of election campaigns, Presidential candidates are expected hit the road to travel around the country supporting their ticket. However, this year, security concerns have heightened, presenting a new challenge for candidates and Afghan officials to tackle just over two months before the elections.
Whether part of a Taliban push to destabilize the country before the April elections, the NATO troop withdraw, or both, the recent wave of attacks that have hit locations all around the country has caused many to worry just over a week before campaign season begins.
"We condemn the Herat attack, and wish the government and security organizations to provide security for candidates and their deputies," Presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul said.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has said that preparations for the campaign season have been well underway for months and stressed that the country-wide campaigning was a necessary part of the elections.
The IEC put it to the security institutions to manage the issue of security for the candidates on their travels.
"We have always asked security organizations to provide security for the candidates and deputies and also provincial candidates," IEC spokesperson Noor Mohammad Noor told TOLOnews.
The election campaigns expect to begin on February 2, but many in the public fear insecurity issues in certain parts of the country could prove too much for the elections all together.
"The Ministry of Interior has formed a special committee working on various parts of the elections, and one of the priorities of the committee is providing security for Presidential candidates," MoI spokesman Sediq Sediqi said. "The head of the committee met with some candidates and we are seriously working on implementation of a candidates' program.
The elections in April mark a pivotal moment for Afghanistan as the first democratic transition of Presidential power in history. But whether or not the MoI and others can keep things from unraveling before then remains to be seen.