Abdul Hafiz Mansoor

Panjshir in the Mirror of Civilization

(Part 33)

Born in 1963 in the Rukha district of the Panjshir Provimce, Mansoor went to a local school before going to university - when events changed his life. "Until 1978, I was a regular student and wanted to complete my education and become a doctor. But [in 1979] the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan and the jihad began. That's how I switched to politics: when I chose politics, it chose me, too," he said.

Abdul Hafiz Mansoor. The traditionalist former head of Aghan state television, Mr Mansoor put on a rabble-rousing display at the loya jirga, which passed Afghanistan's new constitution in January. He has links with the Tajik faction in the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, and has accused Mr Karzai of attempting to install an elected dictatorship. He stirred up anger by ordering a ban on women singing on air.

In terms of more general policies, Mr.Mansoor is promising sweeping changes to the way Afghanistan is governed. Mr.Mansoor caused a storm in September when he said in a televised campaign speech, "I am not an Afghan… I am an Afghanistani," a reference to the older usage of the word "Afghan" to mean the Pashtuns only, as opposed to Tajiks and other groups.

In a speech opening his election campaign in September, Mansoor said he would replace the presidential system with a parliamentary one, "If I become President I will recall the Loya Jirga and make a new parliament and constitution. I will have the present constitution annulled." He told IWPR, "We are against the current government; we will change the presidential system to a parliamentary one. It is also worth saying that I want the presidency not to gain power, but in an effort to distribute that power."

Born in 1963 in the Rukha district of the Panjshir valley, Mansoor went to a local school before going to university - when events changed his life. "Until 1978, I was a regular student and wanted to complete my education and become a doctor. But [in 1979] the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan and the jihad began. That's how I switched to politics: when I chose politics, it chose me, too," he said.

Mansoor was part of the Jamiat mujahedin structure of which Ahmad Shah Massoud was military commander. He served in a backroom role, eventually becoming head of political and cultural affairs and running the party's Mujahed newspaper. When the Mujahidin factions took Kabul and drove the communists from power in 1992, Mansoor was made head of the new regime's official news agency Bakhtar.

The Jamiat-led government retreated from the capital in the face of a Taliban onslaught in 1996, holding out for years in north-eastern areas. After the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001, Mansoor was back in Kabul, this time as acting minister of information and culture, but was soon shifted to the post of head of Radio and Television of Afghanistan. Removed from that post a year later, in 2002, he became head of the weekly Payam-e-Mujahid.

He also served as an elected representative to the first and second Loya Jirgas, held in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Mansoor admits his election platform differs from those of his rivals - but insisted he would drop out of the race if any of them were to back his policies. Patman doesn't hold out much hope for the Panjsheri journalist, "Kabul residents, like those of other provinces too, don't have a positive image of him and won't vote for him."(2)

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(1) Afghanistan online

(2) Institute for war and peace reporting