IEC Warns of Delay for Holding Upcoming Elections

Chairman of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) says holding the upcoming elections would face delay if IEC’s head of secretariat not introduced in time.

IEC noted that the government has not taken any decision about the three introduced nominees for this post since one and a half month ago.

“We submitted names of three candidates for this position but the government has not made any decision so far, and this would be caused delay for holding the elections,” said Najibullah Ahmad Zai, chairman of IEC.

In the meantime, the Independent Electoral Complaint Commission (IECC) has criticized the past election processes, saying despite spending millions of dollars, the commissions still have many problems.

“Nearly 1 billion dollars has been spent for election commissions since 2003, but the commission still do not have basic things,” said Abdul Aziz Aryayee, chairman of IECC.

Head of the Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA) also warns government to stop interfering in electoral institutions affairs.

“We urge the government to stop interventions, otherwise; we have evidences and documents to expose them,” said Muhammad Naeem Ayoub Zada, head of TEFA.

After the infamous electoral institutions in previous Presidential election, the National Unity Government attempts to bring reforms and new election laws in the structures of the electoral bodies for transparency, but there are still challenges in this regard.

By ZackArya and Samira Zafari