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"When 12 million Afghans dip their fingers into black indelible ink this Sunday [18 September], a new era will start for their war-ravaged country," Jo Johnson claims in a commentary posted by the "Financial Times" on 15 September.

"The parliamentary and provincial elections will mark the end of the so-called Bonn process, the transition to a broad-based, gender-sensitive, multi-ethnic and fully representative government," writes Johnson. These parliamentary elections are "intended to give Afghanistan legitimate institutions that provide a counterweigh to the US-backed administration of President Hamid Karzai," Johnson adds.

Moreover, the whole political process in Afghanistan should pave the way for a new beginning to a pluralistic society that eliminates violence and "encourages female participation" in society, Johnson writes.

But Johnson goes on to caution that "many uncertainties challenge this idyllic vision of a democratic Afghanistan." Johnson argues that in order to sustain political and social reform in post-conflict societies such as Afghanistan, international help and assistance is required. Such aid has been "evident" in Afghanistan's post-Bonn political process, Johnson writes.

The voting system that is being used -- one that excludes direct party participation in the campaign or on the ballot -- will thus "limit the emergence of opposition formations." Despite this final step in the Bonn process, "many of the old problems remain in the form of religious extremism, abusive warlords and the failure to provide farmers with an alternative to the poppy cultivation," Johnson warns.

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"A mullah, a feminist, a jihadi, and a communist: It sounds like the start of an Afghan joke, but instead, it is the makings of Afghanistan's first-ever elected parliament," begins a 15 September commentary in "The Christian Science Monitor" titled "Afghan Ballots Carry Mullahs, Jihadis, Women."

The paper calls the candidate mix for seats in the parliament "an endorsement of democracy, and a challenge to its very existence."

The resulting "challenge" could easily turn messy, the paper cautions: "The fact that so many political factions remain armed makes it possible for political disputes to turn deadly."

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Maseeh Rahman of the "South China Morning Post" writes in a commentary titled "An Election Milestone, But How Are Free Afghan Voters?" posted on 13 September about the "sedate polling atmosphere" in Afghanistan ahead of the balloting.

"No big public rallies or processions, no loudspeakers blaring poll promises or rousing political songs," the commentary notes. The author attributes the situation to the absence of political parties -- which have been banned from any direct role in this electoral process. The cities and villages are therefore filled with thousands of posters promoting individuals who campaign in any number of public places -- such as schools, hospitals, mosques, or in the media.

Rahman also compares the situation ahead of the elections to that in India and Pakistan, writing that campaigning -- despite local armed conflicts and at least seven candidate assassinations -- has seen less violence than its counterparts in India or Pakistan.

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