The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission’s committee tasked to investigate reports of links between some candidates and illegal armed groups on Tuesday said it has changed its mechanism of identifying candidates with links to illegal armed groups.
IECC spokesman Ali Reza Rouhani said that based on the new mechanism, after this, the IECC will act against those candidates who have complaints lodged against them and that the final decision will be taken in line with a consensus among IECC members.
But rights groups have said candidates who have been linked with illegal armed groups and are accused of rights violations must be dropped from the list of the candidates.
“Those who have ties with illegal armed groups, those who are involved in drug smuggling, those who are bullying and organizing open courts, these kinds of people shouldn’t be allowed in parliament,” said Sima Samar, chairperson of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.
“There is a lot of political pressure, perhaps one of the reasons that stopped them (IEC) from announcing the list was because of political pressure,” said rights activist Lailuma Naseri.
Based on the IECC’s new mechanism, the names of candidates that have ties with illegal armed groups will be announced by next week.
IECC chief Abdul Aziz Aryayee last week said the commission has so far received over 200 complaints relating to candidates having ties with armed groups. He said the names of candidates proven to have these links will be dropped from the election list within a week.
“The previous list in a way was not accepted, it was decided that information must be gathered regarding the individuals from the concerned institutions and take decisions based on the information,” said Rouhani.
The IECC is expected to disqualify candidates who are involved in security issues, coordinated crimes, drug smuggling, and misuse of public and private assets.
The IECC is scheduled to wrap up its assessment of complaints filed against the candidates by August 2.
The committee will be led by the head of the IECC Abdul Aziz Aryayee, and members of the commission will be from the Ministry of Interior (MoI), Ministry of Defense (MoD), National Directorate of Security (NDS) and the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), said Ali Reza Rouhani, the IECC’s spokesman.
Meanwhile, a video has gone viral on social media that shows Mullah Tarahkhail, a nominee for parliament from Kabul, on a phone call reportedly with Masoom Stanekzai, the head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS). In the video he warns that he will resist if his name is dropped from the list of candidates.
Tarahkhail said: “The people decided to close roads so that government employees could not attend work. But I told the people that I will not (condone) that. This is our government and our system, and these people have gathered in Shash Darak to hold talks with you,” he said.
The IECC tasked to investigate reports of links between some candidates and illegal armed groups has called on security institutions to submit their information within 24 hours about the candidates against whom complaints have been lodged.