Gov’t to find legal solution for electoral reforms; bargaining begins

After the last stalemate that   President’s decree faced for electoral reforms in the National Assembly, now the government says bargaining begins with the institutions within the government and outside the government to find a legal solution for the electoral reforms.

Presidential Palace once again commits for bringing reforms into the electoral system.

“We are committed for bringing electoral reforms and we have begun bargaining to find a legal solution for electoral reforms,” said Sayeed Zafar hashemi, President’s deputy spokesman.

Meanwhile, a number of electoral observing institutions say the only way for ending the election deadlock is transparency of the electoral institutions and creating a transparent mechanism.

“Reforms is the only way and we cannot believe in any election without it,” said Naeem Ayoub Zada, chairman of Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA).

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

The details of these reforms, when they should take place and who should design them are, however, proving contentious.

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.