KABUL - President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday appointed Syed HafizullahHashimi as a new Independent Election Commission (IEC) member, an official said.
A statement from the Presidential Palace received by Pajhwok Afghan News said that the president interviewed three members-designate for the IEC introduced by the selection committee two days ago.
The source said Second Vice-President Sarwar Danish, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Justice SayedYousuf Halim and Attorney General Mohammad FaridHamidi were preset at during the interview.
After the interview and assessment of the candidates’ documents, the president appointed SayedHafizullahHashemi as the member for the IEC, the statement added.
A source in the Chief Executive Office also confirmed to Pajhwok  that Hashimi’s appointment as IEC member was made today after thorough consultations among the stakeholders.
Two days back, the selection committee proposed the names of Hashimi, Abdul QadirZazai and Awal Rahman Rodwal to the president One of them had to be selected for the job.
Hashimi refused to comment on his appointment.
Other candidate for the slot, Abdul QadirZazia, confirmed on his Facebook account that Hashimi had been appointed to the vacant IEC post.
He said: “The selection process for the position has been conducted in a transparent manner and I am satisfied. We are grateful to the President Ghani for appointing Syed HafizullahHashimi as a leadership member of the IEC.”
Hashimi, a 47-year-old resident of the Alishang district of eastern Laghman province, has headed the Meshrano Jirga Secretariat, the United Nations Office in Kabul and the transport section of the Cabinet Secretariat.
A graduate from the Kabul Mechanical School, he received higher education at Nangarhar University’s engineering faculty. However, he could not complete the course as a result of migration.  
He received the bachelor’s degree from the Washington D1 University before doing master in BBA. Hashimi can fluently speak Pashto, Dari, Arabic and English languages. (Pajhwok)