Mazar-e-Sharif: Zahra grew up in Helmand. She is a housewife, and hopes to be a Qur’an reader in the future.

I will vote in the April election. I lost my voting card but I will get another in time, Allah willing. I want a good leader to be chosen. No one in my family stops me from voting. They are educated people. But I have to do all the chores myself so I have not yet got my new voting card. I want to participate in the election to help end war, murder, and genocide. 

In the last election I voted for President Karzai. If I feel unsafe on Election Day I will go with my husband or my older son who has a voting card. I hope the election goes peacefully so we can relax.

Whoever is chosen should be educated, sagacious, and love all our people, brothers and sisters. He should have a soft heart, obey Allah’s law, and follow the Prophet Muhammad to become the perfect leader for our country. 

I can’t say yet who is the best candidate. I pray to Allah that the best one wins.

The future leader of Afghanistan should talk with the Taliban. The president and the Taliban should put their heads together to bring peace. If they don’t, we will have more insecurity. 

During the Taliban regime, we went to Mashhad in Iran. But my relatives remained in Afghanistan. Some of them were injured and killed. 

I wish to Allah that our brothers and sisters select the best candidate as a leader and that the future leader of Afghanistan can bring peace and equanimity, Inshallah. I hope the young generation of men and women who are jobless can find jobs and lift themselves out of poverty. 

By Zahra, interviewed by Nilofar