The Independent Election Commission (IEC) says the registration process of candidates for presidential elections will begin next week (Dec. 22).

According to the timeline of the election commission, the registration process of eligible candidates for presidential elections will start on December 22 and will end on January 2, 2019.

Mirza Aqparast, a Deputy Spokesman of the IEC said that they have prepared the operational plan for the presidential poll and that ready to kick off registering the candidates.

Aqparast assured that the delay in declaring the final results of the parliamentary election will not affect the process. The official also informed of the commission’s plan to start the voter registration process for the elections.

Fazl Ahmad Manawi, former chairman of the IEC, however, said that the commission is dealing with tensions and challenges and that would not be able to launch the registration process of candidates for presidential elections on the set date.

This comes as a number of politicians and political parties have stepped up to form their election tickets for the presidential election which is scheduled to be held on April 20, next year.