Prominent Candidates Face Deadlock over Election Tickets

Prominent presidential candidates have yet to come up with election tickets for the coming elections.

Apart from Mohammad Hanif Atmar who has picked Mohammad Yunus Qanooni and Mohammad Mohaqiq as his deputies, the other possible candidates including President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Salahuddin Rabbani, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar have yet to form their election tickets.

Mohammad Alam Ezadyar, a member of Jamiat-e-Islami party said that they struggle to form an election ticket. He said the party has not yet reached an agreement in this regard and that some of their members have joined other election tickets.

Abdullah Qarloq, deputy head of Junbish-e-Islami party, meanwhile, said that Rabbani and Hekmatyar have informed them of running for the elections after meeting their leader Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, adding that both have separately asked Dostum to be their first deputy in their election tickets.

The candidate registration process for the July presidential elections was officially kicked off on Thursday, last week.

 Abdul Latif Pedram, a former MP and head of Afghanistan’s National Congress Party was the first nominee who filed candidacy papers at the election commission. He has picked Ihsanullah Haidari and Mohammad Sadiq Wardak as his deputies.