The CEO's office on Thursday called on the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to avoid eroding people’s trust in the elections and the electoral process in Afghanistan.

Referring to the purported appointment of Zabiullah Wagarai as head of the IEC in Nangarhar, the CEO's spokesman Mujiburrahman Rahimi said that those who were involved in voter rigging and electoral fraud in the 2014 presidential elections should not be given the opportunity to work in electoral institutions.
 
Wagarai has long been suspected of large-scale fraud during the presidential elections.
 
Documents seen by TOLOnews indicate that IEC Chairman Najibullah Ahmadzai has transferred Wagarai, provincial chairman of the IEC in Paktika province, to eastern Nangarhar province without consulting the IEC members.
 
Rahimi meanwhile said that the IEC should not act in a manner that could create distrust among the people with regards to elections. 
 
“Those who have been involved in (poll) riggings should not be allowed to make their way into the institutions again,” said Rahimi.
 
The CEO’s office has said that government was also working on the utilization of modern technology for elections and said this would further develop the process of fairness and transparency in elections.
 
“Benefiting from technology deters fraud and it helps us to get rid of corruption,” said Naeem Ayoubzada, executive director of Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA).
 
But, some former government officials have said that they were not optimistic about government’s election reforms agenda.
 
“In many places, elections are conducted in a fraudulent manner, but elections should not be conducted in a fake manner in Afghanistan; we have constantly urged government to work on a mechanism and consult politicians about the elections,” said Anwarul Haq Ahadi, chairman of the New National Front Party.
 
After the establishment of the National Unity Government (NUG) under President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah, the two leaders - in the wake of the 2014 election fraud scandal - pledged to consider systematic reforms in Afghanistan’s election law and system.
 
As part of their electoral reforms, the NUG leaders decided to reshuffle former members of the election management bodies and replace some in the commissions.
 
But election monitoring groups have said that the current members of the election commissions are ineffective. 
 
Observers have also accused IEC officials of taking sides with government.