Government and tribal leaders held a General Tribal Shura of Kunar province this week, where they emphasized the importance of getting people to participate in the upcoming elections and for the central government to give the province more focus.
"In its history, Kunar has always been sacrificed for other tribes in Afghanistan, and when good came from our sacrifice, others enjoyed it," an Advisor to President Hamid Karzai from Kunar named Sher Zaman Malgari said.
Most of the discussion at the meeting surrounded the upcoming elections, which some argued was an opportunity for the people of Kunar to come together and throw their weight behind a candidate.
"Those from Kunar, residents of Kunar who live in Nangarhar province and those from Kunar who live in Kabul, can be united and stand by a good candidate and someone who is in favor of country," said Mutasel Kumaki, the Deputy Minister of Industries and Technical Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce and Industries.
However, not everyone was as optimistic about how helpful participation in the elections could be for the province.
"97 percent or 94 percent of the people voted for President Karzai, but Nari district has been under rocket attacks for six months, and he says he just found out about it," a tribal elder named Said Rahmat Rahmati said.
Participants of the meeting agreed that insurgent violence and rocket attacks by Pakistan over the border were the biggest threats that needed to be addressed by the government.