KABUL - Some civil society activists on Wednesday accused the government of intending to hand southern Ghazi province among others over to the Taliban, thus delaying the upcoming elections in the province.
The activists from Ghazni province gathered in capital Kabul on Wednesday and condemned the government’s new decision postponing the polls in their province.
Ewaz Sadat, one of the civil society activists, told the meeting that the Afghan government wanted to give some provinces including Ghazni to the Taliban, as he referred to a recent meeting between Taliban and US representatives in Qatar. Sadar said a final decision in this regard was yet to be taken.
He termed dividing southern Ghazni province into three separate electoral constituencies for the upcoming elections as evidence of the government’s plan. 
He further said the security situation in Ghazni had been ignored since the election process postponed in the province.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on June 25 announced dividing Ghazni province into three separate electoral constituencies for the upcoming elections.
The decision to divide Ghazni into separate constituencies came as protestors kept the provincial IEC office in Ghazni City closed for two months. The IEC said 11 Wolesi Jirga seats allotted for Ghazni had been divided into three constituencies.
The Wolesi Jirga and district council elections are scheduled for October 20. Except Ghazni, all other provinces are single electoral constituency.
Ghazni becomes the first province to be divided into separate constituencies for the Oct 20 Wolesi Jirga and district council elections.
However, IEC chief Abdul Badih Syyad told reporters on Wednesday in Kabul that the special committee comprising officials of the National Security Council (NSC), Parliament and the constitution overnight commission had been tasked with resolving the election issue in Ghazni.
He said the committee held a meeting yesterday but not reach a final decision about the Ghazni issue. (Pajhwok)