Donkeys transport ballot boxes for Afghan elections

Published April 5, 2014
As Afghans prepare for presidential vote, residents of the rugged Panjshir Valley volunteer their donkeys to deliver ballot boxes to one of the country's most inaccessible areas. - Video by Reuters

In Afghanistan's rugged Panjshir Valley, this is how elections are done.

Donkeys...to deliver ballots and voting boxes to the country's most inaccessible areas.

One the eve of election day - they're choosing a new president on Saturday - some 3,000 donkeys are being deployed across the country.

These men volunteered their own donkeys for the job.

Saturday's election is the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan's violent history.

The Taliban have vowed to disrupt the vote with a campaign of bombing and assassinations.

The men have a long journey ahead of them.

Like their country, on its long road towards democracy.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...