Afghan campaign uphill battle for women

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- The number of women running for seats in the Afghan parliamentary elections has increased though cultural obstacles remain, a candidate said.

Afghanistan is to have parliamentary elections Sept. 18. The number of women competing for the estimated 64 seats reserved for women on the 249-seat parliament rose from 328 in 2005 to 406 for September elections.

Fareda Tarana, a candidate and national pop star, told The Guardian newspaper that despite the gains in the number of women competing in the election, conservative traditions still hold in parts of the country.

"I've told my team that we just have to expect this sort of thing," she said after many of her campaign posters were torn down in Kabul.

The advocacy group Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan said one female candidate in outlying Ghor province was threatened to the point she had to relocate to Kabul.

Members of the hard-line former insurgent group Hizb-e-Islami complained the quota system was a sign foreign governments were imposing their will on Afghan culture.

There are more than 2,500 candidates scheduled to compete for the 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, or Wolesi Jirga.

Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, said security "could be the real spoiler" in the September elections. His agency, he added, has seen a rise in incidents targeting female candidates, assassination attempts and general political violence.