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

ANF, NCA Ask for Legitimate Elections

ANF, NCA Ask  for Legitimate Elections

President has to resign in case of moving up the election schedule

By Our Correspondent
KABUL - Yesterday, in the presence of the leaders of the Afghanistan National Front (ANF) and the National Coalition of Afghanistan (NCA) both the opposition alliances issued a joint statement expressed their views and the concerns about the upcoming Presidential and provincial councils' elections.
Faizullah Zaki and the Fazal Rehman Oriya the spokespersons of the ANF and the NCA respectively read the Dari and the Pashto version of the joint statement in a crowded one agenda press conference. The transcript of the press statement issued by the two strong anti Karzai opposition alliances is as follows,

"The success of political power transition and that of security transition are the most important indicators of stability, security and sustainable development of Afghanistan beyond 2014. While some attention has been given to the security transition, unfortunately, the political process, in particular the restoration of the credibility of the electoral process and transfer of power through a free and fair Presidential Election have been confronted by the reluctance of the Afghan Government authorities and neglect of the international community.

In the recent months, as a result of hard efforts and pressure from the political opposition and civil society of Afghanistan, some moves have been made towards the future Presidential Election. Unfortunately, the early unilateral measures of the President show that by getting away from the constitutional timing of the election and personalizing the election institutions, the Government intends to engineer the date and outcome of the third presidential election according to its own wishes. The January 2012 selection of five supporters of the President as new commissioners of the Independent Election Commission, efforts to keep the international community away from the electoral process, delays in the amendment of electoral laws and illegal plays with changing the election date, are clear signs of this fact.

National Coalition of Afghanistan and National Front of Afghanistan, as two main political opposition groupings of the country, emphasize on the principles of democracy, rule of law and inclusive Afghan leadership of the electoral process, and jointly present the following proposals towards the restoration of the credibility of the electoral process and holding of a free and fair Presidential election in 2014:
1. The announcement of the date and holding of the Presidential Election must be according to the constitution. Bringing the election date forward or delaying it, is against the constitution. Despite this, according to Clause 67 of the Constitution, we would welcome the resignation of the President as a prerequisite to holding an early election in 2013.

2. In relation to the organization and transparency of the election, urgent attention to be given to the following points:
A. Amending the Electoral Law and the Law of Organization and Authority of the Independent Election Commission (IEC).
B. Computerization of the electoral process and preparation of voters list throughout the country.
C. Organizing the electoral process in partnership with the international community, specially the United Nations.

3. The electoral process and power transfer, including stages prior to the election, during the election and after the election, until the announcement of final results and swearing in of the new President, must be closely monitored by national and international observers and relevant agencies.

4. Based on the importance of the 2014 Presidential Election, the transition of the security responsibilities must be proportionate to the needs of and contingent upon proper security conditions for holding the election. Therefore, for the security of different stages of the electoral process, enough resources must be considered and the place of election security must be specified in the transition process.

5.National population census and distribution of electronic national ID card must be completed at least six months before the 2014 elections.

6. In accordance with the Constitution, amendments of the electoral laws, and in order to restore the credibility of the electoral process, the elections of provincial councils, district councils and municipalities must be held in 2013.

7. A detailed joint proposal on improving the electoral process shall be presented in the near future."
The press conference attended by leaders of both the alliances. Ahmad Zia Massoud, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, Mohammad Younus Qanooni, Sayyed Noorullah Sadaat, Amrullah Saleh, Noorullaq Uloomi, Haji Aman Khairi were among the prominent notable leaders present on the occasion. Large number of MPs from both the houses also participated in the event.

Answering the question that either both the alliances will field a joint candidate for the next presidential candidate, Faizullah Zaki said, " Well, this is the first step toward the better understanding between both the alliances, we have enough time to think about this issue, nothing is impossible, at the moment we are concentrating on the legal and technical aspects of the electoral process, necessary to insure the elections as per the international standard which could really reflect the will of the people."

Commenting on the newly drafted Electoral Law, Zaki said that it is not yet officially announced and after the receiving the copy of draft, both the opposition alliances decided to issue a detailed and comprehensive response to that.

"But the early information shows that the draft doesn't have any substantial changes in it, let us see, we will meet you (media) again to explain our point of view" he added.