The Candidate is an 2009 Afghan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 reality TV show that mirrors the Afghan election. Six youths under 22 try to convince the audience that they should stay on the show. The audience votes on their favourite candidate through text messaging.

Premise

The Candidate had its first season in 2009. The show, hosted by Jawed Jurat, featured 6 youth, 22 years or younger, discussing political positions and then voted on by viewers until one was elected at the end of the season. The season finale was just weeks before the hotly contested 2009 presidential election. The show received tens of thousands of SMS

SMS

SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...

 text message votes. Tolo chief Jahid Mohseni said that the concept of the show was about how to educate the public on choosing a political candidate. Mohseni told TIME magazine, "One of the critical problems ... it's all about who the person is, his family or his ethnicity. It's never about policy and it is never about the outcome you want. So we thought a program based on a competition about policies could change that." Contestants are given a monthly allowance of $1,300 to spend on real-world campaigning — posters, rallies and travel to other provinces in an effort to gather more "votes".

Production

The show was produced by the Tolo TV network. Part of its funding and support came from the CEPPS agreement, a cooperative agreement supporting the election and civil society process in Afghanistan.

Contestants

The following contestants were among the six on the 2009 season:

• Mujiburahman Poya
• Ahmed Farid Danish
• Ajuba Dadqiq (the only female candidate)
• Munir Farahmand - Contest winner

Controversy

The first contestant to voted off the show was Mujiburahman Poya instead of quietly accepting the texting results he stormed off the stage. Back stage cameras captured Poya hinting about how the show's results were rigged, "After this, it is clear that I must move ahead by force, not by talent," he shouted. "Afghanistan is not ready for democracy. If people want it, there is hope, but now no one is thinking about their future. They are not thinking about who they choose, so that is why they suffer."