The National Assembly on Saturday May 04, 2013, has approved articles of the Election Law including establishment of 10 polling zones for nomadic Kuchi tribes. The previous draft presented by the President said a Kuchi could vote anywhere across the country. Lawmakers have overwhelmingly rejected that clause in Article 7, saying particularly polling zones should be declared. There will be 10 across the country. The decision has come due to the fact that Kuchi population has been used by rulers for their narrow political manipulation playing the ethnic and tribal cards.

In past elections, it has been one of the major sources where the government has not only been able to manipulate the results, but with outright rigging. Now with a second approval, the President should not approve the law without any further delay.

The parliament needs to hurry with the draft law and approve it as soon as possible. It has already taken much longer, which has affected the work of Independent Election Commission (IEC).  

The President has sent back the draft law on structure and organization of IEC. Political parties are accusing that the President is intentionally prolonging the delay so that an administrative decree could be issued for the coming Presidential elections.

According to analysts, There is a calculated campaign to further delay the process so that further space is created for manipulation of the situation. The artificial deadlock on the draft law of structure and organization of the IEC and Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), as well as the insistence on usage of old voter registration cards are all part of the campaign.

The President has yet to make decision on appointment of IEC Chief. Opposition parties say Karzai wants one of his loyalists for the job.  The names making rounds include Presidential Chief of Staff Karim Khuram and National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta, both of whom are nearest to President Karzai. Their appointment would mean hijacked fraud elections with crisis and chaos to follow.

The appointment must be based on broad consultations, engaging all the necessary stakeholders in this process. The new IEC Chief should be broadly accepted as a credible head, who would strengthen the independence and credibility of the organization.

The Government needs to pay heed to the calls of all opposition parties regarding the necessary steps for free, fair and transparent elections to ensure smooth transfer of power in 2014.