Formation of Electoral Reforms Commission Contrary to Constitution: Senate

The Chairman of Afghan Senate House has said that the leaders of National Unity Government (NUG) are not committed to hold the Parliamentary election and formation of electoral reforms commission by president Ghani is contrary to the constitution.

Afghan Senators criticized the NUG and said that the leaders of the government are busy with their personal disputes and do not pay attention to the government system.

“The current system is not committed to hold the parliamentary election and the time of parliamentary election is not clear so far,” Fazlul Hadi Muslimyar, chairman of Senate Said.

President Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah, in the September 2014 agreement, agreed to electoral reforms “to ensure that future elections are credible.”

The National Unity Government agreement is quite clear that “to ensure that future elections are fully credible, the electoral system (laws and institutions) requires fundamental changes” and “that the objective is to implement electoral reform before the 2015 parliamentary elections.”

Meanwhile, The Senate House strongly condemns U.S. airstrike in Logar province of Afghanistan killed at least seven Afghan soldiers.

Chairman of the Senate House said that the perpetrators of the incident should bring to justice.

Afghan army soldiers have been killed accidentally in a US-led airstrike in eastern Afghanistan, in the deadliest incident of friendly fire involving international forces since the war began in 2001.

A further five troops were injured in the 7am airstrike over Baraki Barak district in the eastern province of Logar.

Halim Fedahi, the provincial governor, said officials in Logar were given no forewarning about the strike which led to the deaths, less than a mile from an ANA base that was clearly flying the Afghan flag.

The Western district, which has a strong Taliban presence, is situated less than 10 miles from Pol-e Alam, the provincial capital.

In the meantime, officials in the ministry of defense and interior said that investigation have been started by both Afghan and foreign joint commissions.

Though the official combat mission in Afghanistan ended earlier in the year, more than 13,000 foreign troops remain as part of the international coalition, now known as Resolute Support.

Further troubling for residents of the eastern province, which has long been considered one of the most insecure in the nation, was that the airstrikes were followed by a fire fight between the ANA and Taliban-allied fighters.

“This is the third time that the Afghan security forces came under attack. The fact-finding commission should seriously begin investigating the incident,” Muhammad Alam Izad Yar, first deputy of Senate said.

An investigation team dispatched with the district governor to the site of the incident came under mortar attack from what they said were Taliban forces. In the early afternoon, the Logar police chief, Daud Ahmadi, said the fighting was still ongoing. The injured soldiers had been taken to a military hospital in neighbouring Paktia province.

Apparently worried about violent reactions against westerners following the incident, USAid urged employees to be careful. “Due to events in Logar province, Kabul Security Force is strongly recommending all western entities avoid locations where armed ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces] are present,” a USAid security officer wrote in an email.