The parliamentary commission has apparently concluded work on the Senate and National Assembly points of disagreement on the law related to structure of the Independent Election Commission and Electoral Complaints Commission. Now it would be effective with the President’s signature. IEC officials say an Electoral Complaints Commission should be set up before August, otherwise elections would have to be held under a legislative decree by the President, something that the Palace has been intentionally delaying the process to happen.
The commission has agreed that the two international members of the ECC will not be necessary and a separate committee will be set up to select the members of the IEC. The parliament has been ridiculously ignoring the approval of laws on election and structure of IEC and ECC. It does not seem to happen very soon, complicating the situation.
Recently there was a meeting at the Presidential Palace about the new IEC Chief. The current IEC Chief Fazal Ahmad Manawi will retired by the end of this month. The 22-party umbrella group of opposition Cooperation Council of Political Parties and Coalitions of Afghanistan (CCPPCA) boycotted the meeting, calling it unconstitutional and against the law. They demanded immediate approval of the election law.
Opposition sources claim President Karzai wants one of his loyalists to be appointed as IEC Chief and last week’s meeting was intended to be another of those ‘sit-talk-and-order’ meetings where participants are not for actual consultation on a decision, but invited for their mere presence on a matter already decided. The names making rounds include Presidential Chief of Staff Karim Khuram and National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta, both of whom are nearest to Karzai. Their appointment would mean hijacked fraud elections with crisis and chaos to follow.
The plans to influence poll results of presidential elections have been underway for over a year now. The Government must know it cannot get away with such moves without taking the country into deep crisis for which sole responsibility will go to the President.
Opposition made a good decision to boycott an unconstitutional session and they should continue a unified demand for proper procedures to be followed. If the Government is serious about conducting smooth elections free and fair, it should not appoint any official who has served in the current Karzai Administration. A non-political figure acceptable to all would be the best choice. However, the Palace dwellers have other plans and they will not let it go without a try to maneuver things.
Recently opposition leaders have expressed serious concerns, continuously. Leader of the National Coalition alliance Younas Qanooni has said there are elements around President Karzai who are plotting to create a situation of crisis and postpone the elections for a year. He added that the President must reject the opportunist suggestions for the continuity of the current government rule by delaying the polls. These opportunist elements are also suggesting convening of a Loya Jirga to extend Karzai’s rule for one more year pretending the violence in some areas as a reason for election insecurity. He mentioned that the Palace dwellers are also looking to plot a rigging plan, if the polls are held.
It is second time in few weeks that a leader of the key opposition coalition is expressing serious concerns about elections and plots to hijack it. He said that President Karzai was looking to bring a loyalist to head the Independent Election Commission.
Meanwhile, another leader of the collation and President Karzai’s former rival in 2009 elections Dr. Abdullah Abdullah has expressed doubt if the President will leave office without giving it a tough fight. Despite President Karzai’s repeated promise to leave office when his tenure finishes early next year, key opposition leaders have been expressing concerns about the elections. As the local saying goes, these cries are not without reason. So far with less than one year left to the Presidential elections scheduled for April 2014, the Government has done very little regarding the preparations.
The Interior Ministry has once again announced distribution of the electronic identification cards will begin by Thursday this week. Officials say they will distribute 12 to 18 million electronic ID cards within one year. The e-Tazkira registration and distribution has been postponed several times since last month. There is an intentional delay-tactic at play to affect the voter registration process for elections. According to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology all equipments and materials needed for the distribution of the electronic ID cards have been provided by the ministry to the joint committee of the distribution of ID cards. Officials say the machines can produce up to 80,000 cards a day with each machine able to print 400 an hour.
The delay-tactic is working well in parallel with other maneuvering designs underway. President Karzai was supposed to have the first e-tazkira last month, but it was delayed. Opposition parties and civil society organization have called for the electronic ID cards to be used for election, after its completion. The delay-tactic is intentional so that the old voter registration lists remain only option. Those cards can be bought at cheap prices all over the country. There were over 17 million of them, while the actual number of eligible voters is about 15 million. The fraud machinery could actually hijack the election results through these lists and ghost voters, a repetition of what happened in 2009.
The international community needs to keep a firm eye on the pre-election preparations and ensure a transparent process for free and fair elections and smooth transfer of power in 2014.