Afghanistan has a constitutional law based on which an electoral law was formulated and approved. It was only the recent presidential election which was conducted in the light of the new law. All other elections were held on the legal grounds provided by a mere presidential degree. However, one of the pitfalls of the new electoral law is that complaints about electoral bodies can be referred only to the commission formed for this purpose but not to any other legal body for example the Supreme Court of Afghanistan. Electoral complaints against Independent Election Commission can be submitted to its sister organization called Electoral Complaints Commission. But if one has complaints against ECC, here is where the legal vacuum pops up.
After the recently held run-off election between Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, the former not only accused the IEC of organizing a massive fraud but also said he has no more trust in both the electoral commissions. He called upon the IEC to immediately halt the process of ballot counting. Keeping in view the legal pitfall, Abdullah had no option except suggesting the UN to interfere.
If the condition continues as is a political deadlock and even chaotic situation might soon grab Afghanistan and endanger its gains of 13 years. On Saturday, supporters of Abdullah staged an anti-fraud protest in which thousands of people participated and chanted anti-fraud slogans.
While this protest was peaceful hitherto, there are fears that such protests may go violent – something quite common for Afghanistan – if the Afghan government and international community do not take the matter as serious. Any clash between the supporters of the candidates would mean beginning of a new era bloody conflict in the country which will definitely be in the benefit of terrorist organizations that are apparently waiting for opportunities to destabilize Afghanistan.
Given the fact that IEC still operates on an outdated and paper-based system to register voters and conduct elections and electoral bodies cannot be held accountable by any other legal entity, scenarios such as the current one, should always be expected. Despite spending billions of dollars and having adequate time, the IEC has failed to standardize the electoral system.
President Karzai seems to have realized how sensitive the situation is and has given a green signal to the demands of Abdullah. Now immediate actions must be taken to save the country from falling into chaos. Whether a solution is reached through impartial interference of UNAMA or any other appropriate approach is adopted, the issue must be addressed immediately. This must be the top priority of the international community and Afghan government.