Abdullah Criticizes IEC over Failure to Rising Awareness Campaign

Criticizing the Independent Election Commission on Tuesday, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said lack of strong awareness campaign has caused the voter registration process to attract fewer people registering themselves to vote in upcoming elections.

IEC at the weekend began registering voters across the country as the commission seeks to ensure that long-delayed legislative elections in October are seen as credible and free of fraud.

Since the beginning of the process, as many as 48 thousand people have been registered to vote in parliamentary and district council elections – scheduled to be held on October 20 this year.

But the number of registered voters seems less than what it should have been so far. Chief Executive Abdullah reasoning IEC’s failure to launch the awareness campaign in the voter registration process behind the cause.

“I think further works should have done for having public awareness, but I am hopeful of the Afghanistan people to get mobilized. A national mobilization should take place so that we be the witness of increase in numbers of people marching towards registration centers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zia Massoud former special envoy on reforms & good governance and deputy head of Jamiat-e-Islami party who visited one of the registration centers in Kabul said that eligible people must participate and register to put an end to “monopolization of power” in the country.

This comes as the first phase of voter registration process will continue until May 12 in centers of the provinces, and followed by the second and third phases of the process that are expected to begin in districts and villages of the provinces.