KABUL - Members of the Electoral Reform Commission’s Selection Committee said on Sunday they are waiting for President Ashraf Ghani's orders to start work.
They said they will not bow to pressure by any organization but that they first need Ghani's go-ahead.
"We are ready. The president is expected to visit the committee members. We will start our work whenever the president gives us orders to do so," said Mohammad Nadir a member of the selection committee.
"It was expected that we will meet the president this week but it will not happen because President Ghani will travel [to France] for a week," said Fahim Dashti, head of Afghanistan Reporters Union and member of the selection committee.
"Now the committee members say that they should have a meeting and discuss whether they should wait for the president or start their work," he added.
It is said that a number of civil society organizations are against the nomination of Fahim Dashti, Naeem Ayub Zada head of Free and Fair Election Federation of Afghanistan and Zarqa Yaftali head of a women's rights organization.
"According to the law, the selection committee can start its work with five members but it needs seven members," said Saleh Mohammad Regestani, a member of the Electoral Reform Commission.
Meanwhile the president's deputy spokesman Sayed Zafar Hashemi said the seven members of the committee have been introduced to the government but discussions are being held.
"Seven members of the selection committee have been introduced to the government. We have received a number of criticisms from a number of civil society organizations about [some of] the introduced members," he added.
"According to the law we do not have the right to interfere in introducing members of the committee but we are providing the grounds to overcome the problems and help start the work of the committee," he said.
This comes as electoral monitoring organizations have already asked the committee to start its work as it is the first step needed to bring reforms in the electoral bodies. (Tolonews)