President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday asked the international community and electoral watchdogs to monitor the upcoming presidential election of Afghanistan.

According to a statement released by the presidential palace, President Ghani raised the issue during a joint meeting between the Independent Election Commission (IEC), the international community and the government at the presidential palace in Kabul.

During the meeting, President Ghani asked the government officials not to interfere in election affairs.

In addition, Ghani has tasked the National Procurement Authority to process all contracts related to the election as soon as possible.

The ministry of finance promised to finalize the details of the IEC budget in coordination with the international community, the statement added.

This comes after a number of presidential candidates accused President Ghani of meddling in IEC’s affairs.

Speaking at a gathering in the northern province of Balkh, Rahmatullah Nabil, former chief of Afghan intelligence agency and a presidential candidate today claimed that President Ghani is trying to face challenges ahead of the upcoming elections.

Earlier, a number of candidates including Mr. Nabil and Mohammad Hanif Atmar accused President Ghani of pre-designing the election in his favor.

The Afghan presidential election is expected to be held on September 28 this year.