Afghanistan's populist prince --- Country's first president's nephew, and former king's grandson Nadir Naim hopes to serve the nation if he wins at polls.--- Prince Nadir Naim was barely three when a now iconic National Geographic photograph was taken of him with his late grandfather, the former Afghan King Mohammed Zahir Shah, at a farm near Kabul. - That was in the summer of 1968. -- Five years later, the king would lose his throne in a bloodless coup d'état led by his cousin, Mohammed Daoud Khan. --- Decades of occupation, jihad and civil war left the former king's favourite retreat in shambles. Today, returning refugees in makeshift homes have overtaken the orchard where Prince Nadir remembers playing hide-and-seek with his cousins on Friday afternoons. -- For Prince Nadir, the farm now stands as a symbol of a paradise lost, but one that can still be regained. He says that it must be restored and converted into a public park for all Afghans to visit and remember better days - But right now, he is looking to the future, as he wages another campaign of "restoration". --- On October 6, Prince Nadir announced his candidacy for the 2014 Afghan presidential elections. He is among 11 figures across the political spectrum, who are running for the top job, including three former foreign ministers Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Dr Zalmai Rassoul and Hedayat Arsala, a former World Bank consultant, Ashraf Ghani, and the brother of the incumbent, Qayum Karzai. -- With NATO troops set to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, whoever follows the current head of state, the affable Hamid Karzai, will inherit the colossal challenges of coping with a crumbling economy, a spike in opium cultivation, deteriorating security conditions and an emboldened, even metastasized insurgency. --- The 48-year-old former aide to King Zahir Shah defines this silent majority, as "the ordinary noble people of Afghanistan who love their country, want to live in peace with each other and lead a life of dignity in their country." -- Prince Nadir, son of the late king's daughter, Princess Mariam returned to Afghanistan as his grandfather's private secretary in 2003 - after more than 20 years in exile in the UK. -- For his part, Prince Nadir insists his motivation stems from "a sense of moral duty" rather than "personal ambition". -- "I have always maintained that I am here to serve the Afghan nation in whatever capacity they see fit. I have made myself available to the Voice of the People and the entire Afghan nation. This is the main difference between the other political personalities and me," he says. -- Indeed, while Prince Nadir may be a fresh face on the Afghan political stage, he already stands out as one of the very few politicians who venture on city streets without armoured vehicles and dozens of bodyguards. His pedigree and his newly-acquired savy have now put him on par with some of the more seasoned and established figures vying for the presidency. - More, Tanya Goudsouzian - Aljazeera