The new commissioners of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) have not taken any ‘considerable action’ for the country’s elections since their appointment four months ago, said a number of Afghans from different provinces.   

The residents said they welcome changes in the electoral commissions, but the new commissioners’ efforts are not convincing.

“They [new election commissioners] have not taken any considerable step so far and they have not been able to properly manage their activities,” said Farzam, a resident of Badakhshan.

A number of Kandahar and Helmand residents meanwhile said the new election commissioners have failed to regain the people’s trust in the election process.

“New commissioners’ efforts are not enough. The fate of the reforms process is unclear,” said Gul Ahmad, a resident of Helmand province.

Herat province residents, however, said they are happy with the efforts made by the new commissioners.

“I think they have taken two fundamental steps; first, they have introduced a good mechanism to government and second, they have started preparations for the upcoming elections,” said Samim, a resident of Herat.

Reports indicate that currently the new commissioners are working on implementation of an e-voting system for the upcoming parliamentary and district councils’ elections in the country.

Last week, the office of Afghan Chief Executive announced that parliamentary and district councils’ elections would be held by the end of current solar year [21 March 2018].