In pictures: Kabul enters election mode
- Published
Presidential candidates in Afghanistan have begun two months of campaigning. On the streets of Kabul posters have been appearing overnight and 11 contenders peer down at passers-by, such as this image of Qayum Karzai (right), elder brother of President Hamid Karzai, who hopes to follow in his younger brother's footsteps. Pictures and words: Mahfouz Zubaide.
This young man, who works at a shop near the city centre which supplies windows for Kabul homes, is optimistic about the 5 April polls. He believes the election is the only way of showing that Afghans have freedom and true choices: "The only way to choose the person we want is by voting."
Abdullah Abdullah, a candidate from the north of Afghanistan was the runner-up in the presidential polls of 2009, losing out to incumbent Hamid Karzai. A vast poster proclaiming his renewed intent dwarfs the vegetable shop underneath it.
On a deserted street on the outskirts of Kabul, this vegetable seller says that he will not let candidates put posters up in his shop. He did not display much enthusiasm for politics, saying he is waiting to see what candidates offer before he makes up his mind.
Zalmai Rassoul, former foreign minister and now presidential candidate, looks over this main road in the centre of Kabul as two Afghan soldiers head towards the national airport. This is a dangerous district, targeted many times. Security will have to be high on the list of all the contenders.
These men, working for the municipality clearing the streets of the city did not want to talk politics or elections. They say they just carry on with the day job as the election looms large, with posters put up on the roads about them.
Former mujahedeen commander Abdul Rasul Sayyaf (far right on poster) has adopted the resolutely anti-modern oil lamp as his symbol. Staring up at the poster are two men, one a former general, who were asking passers-by who they planned to vote for. Both men were certain they would not vote for anybody.
These men who work for the company contracted to put up candidate Ashraf Ghani's posters welcomed the fact that Afghans are now free to print posters and put them up on the street. If the elections go well the hope is they could be seen as a landmark in power transfers in Afghanistan.