President has no right to decide about Parliament: Executive Office

The Executive office stressed that President Ghani has no right to decide about the continuation of Parliament’s working period.

The office noted that the failure of President Ghani in his commitments for brining electoral reforms caused the parliamentary election not held before the end of Parliament’s working period.

Up to the next three days the legal working period of Wolesi Jirga will end and President Ghani now begin to campaign on the continuation of Parliament’s work.

“Without the need for consensus and surveys until holding the Parliamentary election and brining reforms, Parliament can keep working.

The government and President has no authority to thing and decide about the Parliament,” Asef Ashna, deputy spokesman of executive office said.

The prolonged crisis over Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections has further undermined President’s credibility.

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.

Meanwhile, parliament has been working on relevant laws, while commissioners of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) are fighting off calls for them to be replaced while insisting that, at this point, they are the only ones who should be making changes to improve future elections.

 Although everyone is talking about ‘reform’, the wrangling really boils down to a struggle for control of the electoral bodies and, ultimately, the outcome of upcoming elections.

In the meantime, a number of Parliament representatives emphasized that they are opposed to the political agreement for the continuation of Parliament’s work and they will keep working without any halts.

According to the National Unity Government document, the president should issue a decree “immediately after the establishment of the government of national unity” to establish a “special commission for the reform of the electoral system.”

The text of the agreement gives no further details, other than that the commission would report to the CEO on its progress and presents its recommendations to the cabinet for review and implementation. The president has so far, however, shown very little urgency in carrying out this pledge.

The upcoming parliamentary elections are important for both camps – as well as for several groups currently ‘outside’ the government, such as former president Hamed Karzai and his circle, the self-proclaimed disgruntled mujahedin and the growing group of irate Abdullah supporters (who feel he has not been enough of a champion). All sides will try to secure a large presence in the new parliament, so they can use its potential for pressure politics (and prevent the parliament’s power from being used against them).

According to the Constitution, the upcoming parliamentary elections should be held between 22 April and 22 May 2015 (article 83).

 But to state the obvious: practically, this is no longer possible. Preparations have not been made, funding has not been secured, and there is no longer enough time for candidates to be registered or for campaigns to be held.

 It would also violate the electoral timeline, which stipulates that an election date needs to be announced 180 days in advance (Electoral Law, article 43).

Reported by Fawad Naseri