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Afghanistan: Different Views Of Loya Jirga Predominate According To Region
Wednesday, June 5, 2002
By Charles Recknagel
Radio Free Europe

As Afghanistan prepares to hold an emergency Loya Jirga that will help rebuild a sense of national unity, the country still suffers from a fragmented media that leaves many outlets in the hands of regional powerholders. RFE/RL reports on how Afghans may get different views of next week's Loya Jirga proceedings depending on where they live.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- RFE/RL
In theory, Afghanistan has a single state television and radio network that people nationwide rely upon for news.



But in fact, the past decades of war have destroyed the national network and left a scattering of regional broadcast facilities that have difficulty communicating with each other and coordinating programming.

The fragmentation means that today, the national television and radio headquarters in Kabul generates its own news programming while the national radio and television branch stations in Herat, Kandahar, and Mazar-i-Sharif largely generate their own. And, due to weak transmitters, people at one end of the country are unable to hear the broadcasts from the other, isolating audiences from one another.

The situation persists despite reported early pledges by several donor countries to recreate Afghanistan's national radio and television network before next week's emergency Loya Jirga. The assembly, which will bring together delegates from every region, is intended to be a major step toward nation building as it approves the head of state and key structures of a new transitional authority to lead the country to general elections within two years.

But top media officials here say that when the Loya Jirga convenes on 10 June, there is a danger that people in different parts of the country will get different views of the proceedings depending on where they live. That is because some regional centers of the national broadcast network remain under the influence of local power holders who may have their own interests in how the events are perceived.
(More: RFERL.org News Source)
2002 © Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.

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