KABUL – The National Unity Government (NUG) Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Monday said at the council of ministers meeting that  government is committed to supporting a transparent and on-time election.
Abdullah said the bitter experiences around past elections should not be repeated in the upcoming elections and urged the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to do its best to regain the public’s trust in the election commission and election process.
“The National Unity Government is committed to holding transparent, fair and on-time elections,” said Abdullah.
The Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA) meanwhile released the results of a survey that was carried out on the issues around elections in 25 provinces of the country in the last three and half months.
TEFA officials said they have used questionnaires in their survey and have received feedback from more than 3,700 people of whom over 40 percent have said they do not believe the election commission has the capacity to handle the upcoming elections.
However, more than 50 percent of respondents have said they will participate in the next elections.
“41 percent of the respondents have said they do not believe the election commission has the capacity (to organize elections on time), 30 percent said they are not sure and 29 percent said the election commission has the capacity,” said Shams Rasikh, TEFA program manager.
Most of the respondents have said the absence of a systematic plan to secure election security was one of their main concerns.
“An overall assessment on election security has not been conducted,” TEFA head Mohammad Naeem Ayubzada said.
Nearly 40 percent of the respondents also expressed their concerns over government’s interference in the election commission affairs, but the election commission said they will hold elections transparently and that people do not have to worry about this.
“We have not witnessed government interference or influence in our decisions so far,” IEC commissioner Maazullah Dawlati said.
The Independent Election Commission commissioners have another nine months to organize parliamentary and district council elections – but as yet, the voters list has not even been drawn up, which has raised serious concerns over another delay in holding elections. (Tolonews)