The Chairman of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) has transferred Zabiullah Wagarai, provincial chairman of the IEC in Paktika province to the eastern Nangarhar province without consulting the IEC members, documents seen by TOLOnews show.
 
An IEC commissioner has also strongly criticized the work of the chairman of the election commission.
 
A credible source has told TOLOnews that Zabiullah Wagarai is one of the main suspects of election fraud during 2014 presidential elections. An IEC spokesman has dismissed the allegations against Wagarai.
 
According to the documents, the ex-leadership of the election commission had received permission from the president to transfer Wagarai from Paktika to Nangarhar, but the former acting chief of the IEC secretariat proposed that the presidency cancel the move and argued that provincial chiefs of the IEC are supposed to be elected on the basis of merit and free competition.
 
“It was better to consult all members of the commission about the matter. There was a need for an assessment of the allegations against this person for us to reach a conclusion about the credibility of the claims,” said IEC commissioner Mazullah Dawlati.
 
But, IEC spokesman says that the IEC chief has the authority to reshuffle provincial chiefs of the election commission.
 
“After the appointment as chairman of the secretariat, his appointment again came under discussion and a decision was made to move him from Paktika to Nangarhar for certain reasons. Because the post in Nangarhar had been vacant for two years, there was need for someone to be hired,” said IEC spokesman Abdul Badi Sayyad.
 
Meanwhile, some election monitoring groups have raised concerns over such actions in the IEC.
 
“Such appointments not only bring distrust, but create even more mistrust among the people. Finally, such actions cause harm to the election process,” said Jandad Spinghar, head of Afghan Civil Society Election Network.
 
TOLOnews report not succeeded in obtaining comment from Wagarai about the allegations.