Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Neither Govt nor IEC Has the will for Holding Fair Elections: MPs

Neither Govt nor IEC  Has the will for Holding Fair Elections: MPs

KABUL - IEC has set a 20-day timeline for government to introduce a new chief for IEC and if the government fails to do so, commissioners will take action.
A number of PMs claimed on Sunday in parliament that neither the government nor the Independent Election Commission (IEC) has the will to hold transparent elections.
MPs also criticized lack of a chief for IEC and said the election commission and government are not doing enough to ensure transparent elections.
“Delay in introducing the IEC chief will postpone the election. Our demand is that all the legal steps should be taken for electing a new chief for the commission,” MP Mirbat Khan Mangal said.
Following the dismissal of the IEC chief by President Ashraf Ghani, presidential palace issued a decree in which had ordered the former selection committee to commence their work on selecting a new commissioner for the IEC.
“The law has provided for the circumstance that if one of the commissioners is dismissed, the president can select another person from the selection committee’s list,” MP Shah Gul Rezaei said.
To date, the new commissioner has not been selected and the seat of IEC chief remains empty.
IEC refused to comment on the MPs concerns. However, on Saturday IEC had said that they have given a 20-day timeline for government to introduce a new chief for IEC and if the government fails to do so, they themselves will act.
“The government is losing its legitimacy among the people. The government will be questioned, the problem will get complicated and the war will get intensified,” a member of Hizb-e-Islami Amin Karim said.
The parliamentary and district council elections have been scheduled for July 2018, but people and the institutions overseeing election process have lost trust in having on-time and fair elections after seeing the poor performances of IEC.  (Tolonews)