14 August 2009 - In many ways, history is unfolding in this hastily-assembled office in a residential apartment in Kabul's Kolola Pushta neighbourhood.

Farida Tarana, one of Afghanistan's most popular women, welcomes me into the room, then quickly engrosses herself in some papers, as a bunch of older male staff wait to be seated until she places herself on the couch.

I am not however, there to interview a young girl, originally from Herat, whose meteoric rise to fame in 2007 on the country's version of American Pop Idol – 'Afghan Star' – safely ensconced her into the hearts of young and old fans across the country.

I am instead at her office, or, perhaps, home, the role incumbent on the visitor or time of the day, here to meet Farida Tarana, the first-time provincial council candidate, who is standing on an independent ticket from Kabul.

"I have good knowledge of people through art," she tells UNAMA. "I want to enter politics to solve the problems of the people. By becoming a member of the provincial council, it will give me a chance to act as a bridge between the government and the people."

One instantly gathers that Tarana has slipped into her new vocation easily. But, if she, or any of the 348 women, who are running for this year's provincial council elections, will have any chance of winning, they will need to quickly assume the proverbial political cloak – complete with the essential rhetoric – that must be worn along with the head scarf. In a predominantly male-dominated society, this challenge will be even tougher.

"It is very hard for a woman to enter politics in Afghanistan, because we live in a traditional society. Our society does not allow a woman to work, let alone enter politics. People think this is a job for men and that women don’t have the right to enter politics. They suppose women can only be housewives," says Tarana.

In fact, this strong desire to jettison, forever, the stereotypical role of the ‘housewife’, remedy decades of repression – mentioned nearly as often as men evoke the 'decades of civil war' saying – and transport women from the kitchen to the parliament, has collectively resulted in a 30 per cent increase in women candidates this year.

Shazia Kohistani, a 33-year-old independent candidate from Kabul, is a part of this 30 per cent surge that is convinced that change must come to Afghanistan and fast.

"The reason why I nominated myself this election is because this is a society dominated by men and there is no respect for women's rights. The number of women standing this year has increased because many of these women are beginning to feel that they want these rights," she says.

But are men here, prepared to relinquish some of the power and accept a woman in a role that has so far been their prerogative?

"I have no problem voting for a woman," say Zley Gul, 47, a gardener. "They can do as well as men. But I don't know any female candidates from my area."

The truth of the matter is women like Tarana and Kohistani are fighting a multiple-pronged war: Not only do they work harder to convince the electorate to surmount traditional voting patterns and barriers.

But as provincial candidates, they have also been dwarfed by the cacophony of an overwhelming presidential race between political giants such as the Karzais, Abdullahs and Ghanis of the election campaign.

Tarana is unhappy at the media for the preponderance of coverage given to the presidential elections, at the expense of provincial candidates such as her.

"Unfortunately, many people don't know when the provincial elections will take place and what a provincial council means or does. No attention has been given to our elections. Some people also ask me if I already have become a provincial council member. There's a total lack of awareness," she says.

John Matisonn from the Media Commission, the body that monitors the reportage during the elections, says it is "inevitable that they (provincial council candidates) have got little coverage in comparison to the presidential candidates". He says “it's disappointing because there are over 3,000 provincial council candidates, who have so much to offer, and the public must be given information to be able to make an informed decision.”

Unable to rely on the media to provide information to her voters, Tarana has, instead, spent over US$ 20,000 on a panoply of posters and banners, that emblazon the lampposts of Kabul's main streets, often fighting for every inch of available space in this walled city, at times overlapping life-size pictures of presidential candidates, at others, pasted shoulder-to-shoulder with her male provincial council rivals.

History is being made in Kabul – really.

By Aditya Mehta, UNAMA