政一B 邱科翰 (4)

姓名 : 邱科翰

班級 : 政一B

學號 : 07114248

[標題] Afghanistan election: Voters cast ballots amid heavy security, BBC, 20/10/18

[內文] (節選) 

Voters in Afghanistan are casting their ballots in the long delayed parliamentary elections, amid heavy security and threats from the Taliban.

More than 2,500 candidates - including many women - are vying for 250 seats.

But more than 30% of polling stations are shut because of security concerns - 10 candidates have been killed in the lead up to the vote.

Meanwhile voting in Kandahar province has been delayed by a week after the assassination of a top police chief.

Gen Abdul Raziq was shot dead by a rogue bodyguard on Thursday.

The Taliban claimed the attack, which came after a high-level security meeting. US commander Gen Scott Miller narrowly escaped unhurt.

Nearly nine million voters are entitled to cast their ballots as polling stations opened at 07:00 local time (02:30 GMT). The voting is expected to end at 11:30 GMT.

But only about 5,000 polling stations of the initially planned 7,000 will be operational because of security concerns.

The Taliban have urged people to boycott what they call "fake" elections. And Islamic State militants in Afghanistan have followed suit.

About 54,000 members of the security forces have been deployed to try to ensure the elections pass off peacefully.

Preliminary results are expected 20 days after the election, on 10 November.

Most Afghans are desperate for a better life, jobs, education and an end to the war with the Taliban.

For the country's foreign partners, seeing a flourishing democracy would be the return they're seeking after many years of investment, billions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost in more than a decade of fighting.

Security is not the only issue threatening the vote.

Past elections have been marred by corruption and fraud, with cases of ballot box stuffing, multiple voting and voter intimidation all documented.

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[相關憲法條文]

憲法第一條 : 中華民國基於三民主義，為民有民治民享之民主共和國。

憲法第十七條 : 人民有選舉、罷免、創制及複決之權。

憲法第二十三條 : 以上各條列舉之自由權利，除為防止妨礙他人自由、避免緊急危難、維持社會秩序，或增進公共利益所必要者外，不得以法律限制之。

憲法第六十五條 : 立法委員之任期為三年，連選得連任，其選舉於每屆任滿前三個月內完成之。

{相關法條}

公職人員選舉罷免法第三條 : 公職人員選舉，以普通、平等、直接及無記名單記投票之方法行之。全國不分區及僑居國外國民立法委員選舉，依政黨名單投票選出。公職人員罷免，由原選舉區之選舉人以無記名投票之方法決定。

公職人員選舉罷免法第九十四條 : 利用競選、助選或罷免機會，公然聚眾，以暴動破壞社會秩序者，處七年以上有期徒刑；首謀者，處無期徒刑或十年以上有期徒刑。前項之未遂犯罰之。

公職人員選舉罷免法第九十五條 : 意圖妨害選舉或罷免，對於公務員依法執行職務時，施強暴脅迫者，處五年以下有期徒刑。犯前項之罪，因而致公務員於死者，處無期徒刑或七年以上有期徒刑；致重傷者，處三年以上十年以下有期徒刑。

公職人員選舉罷免法第九十六條 : 公然聚眾，犯前條之罪者，在場助勢之人，處三年以下有期徒刑、拘役或科新臺幣三十萬元以下罰金；首謀及下手實施強暴脅迫者，處三年以上十年以下有期徒刑。犯前項之罪，因而致公務員於死者，首謀及下手實施強暴脅迫者，處無期徒刑或七年以上有期徒刑；致重傷者，處五年以上十二年以下有期徒刑。

公職人員選舉罷免法第九十八條 : 以強暴、脅迫或其他非法之方法為下列行為之一者，處五年以下有期徒刑：一、妨害他人競選或使他人放棄競選。二、妨害他人為罷免案之提議、連署或使他人為罷免案之提議、連署。前項之未遂犯罰之。

公職人員選舉罷免法第九十九條 : 對於有投票權之人，行求期約或交付賄賂或其他不正利益，而約其不行使投票權或為一定之行使者，處三年以上十年以下有期徒刑，得併科新臺幣一百萬元以上一千萬元以下罰金。預備犯前項之罪者，處一年以下有期徒刑。預備或用以行求期約或交付之賄賂，不問屬於犯罪行為人與否，沒收之。犯第一項或第二項之罪，於犯罪後六個月內自首者，減輕或免除其刑；因而查獲候選人為正犯或共犯者，免除其刑。犯第一項或第二項之罪，在偵查中自白者，減輕其刑；因而查獲候選人為正犯或共犯者，減輕或免除其刑。

公職人員選舉罷免法第一百條 : 直轄市、縣（市）議會議長、副議長、鄉（鎮、市）民代表會、原住民區民代表會主席及副主席之選舉，對於有投票權之人，行求期約或交付賄賂或其他不正利益，而約其不行使投票權或為一定之行使者，處三年以上十年以下有期徒刑，得併科新臺幣二百萬元以上二千萬元以下罰金。前項之選舉，有投票權之人，要求期約或收受賄賂或其他不正利益，而許以不行使其投票權或為一定之行使者，亦同。預備犯前二項之罪者，處一年以下有期徒刑。預備或用以行求期約或交付之賄賂，不問屬於犯罪行為人與否，沒收之。犯第一項、第二項之罪，於犯罪後六個月內自首者，減輕或免除其刑；因而查獲候選人為正犯或共犯者，免除其刑。在偵查中自白者，減輕其刑；因而查獲候選人為正犯或共犯者，減輕或免除其刑。

阿富汗憲法第一條 : Afghanistan shall be an Islamic Republic, independent, unitary and indivisible state. 

阿富汗憲法第二十三條 : Life is the gift of God as well as the natural right of human beings. No one shall be deprived of this except by legal provision. 

阿富汗憲法第五十九條 : No individual shall be allowed to manipulate the rights and liberties enshrined in this Constitution and act against independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty as well as national unity. 

…

心得評論：

The news I picked this week places heavy focus on several fronts : the right to elect and be elected, the freedom of expression, the states’s responsibilities to ensure a fair and open election, the state’s responsibilities to protect citizens from harm, and the state’s responsibility to enforce the law effectively. 

The politics in Afghanistan is way more complicated than in Taiwan, as the country just had its first ever democratic elections. After the coalition invasion and the establishment of the present authority, the country has failed to deliver what was clearly written in the constitution - a fair and open election across all of Afghanistan. This is highly due to the influence the Taliban still has, and the extreme dictatorial approach of the Islamic state militias. The political circle in Afghanistan were often involved in scandals, bribes, and illegal doings of other kinds. Although laws in Afghanistan do prohibit such wrong acts, the executive were too weak to stand up to corruption. Taiwan faces similar issues also. Even though we have laws outlining the punishments for interrupting the fairness and openness of elections, there seems to be corruptions in every election ever. Personally, I think the laws in Taiwan were too easy on criminals. In my opinion, I would’ve strengthen the punishment for corruption and influencing elections. It is right to do so, as the constitution states that elections were the right of every citizen and is the founding stone of the state’s legal authority. 

In Afghanistan, armed groups used violence to prevent people from voting. In fact, one third of the polling stations were closed due to security concerns. This, to me, is unacceptable in Taiwan. If I were in place of charge, I would’ve act against violence. Every so often we see such incidents took place in Taiwan, and somehow no crackdown really succeeded in delivering the message - violence will not be tolerated in election, as clearly written in the law. However, as violence were imminent, closing polling stations were still the right thing for the Afghan government to do. While some would say it compromised a citizens’ right to vote, do note that civil rights can be restricted under certain circumstances. Some goes in Taiwan. 

As stated in their constitution, this election should’ve taken place three years ago, yet was delayed until now. Despite all the tragedy unfolding, I still wish Afghanistan would emerge better from this election.