The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Wednesday confirmed that there might be a delay in the upcoming presidential elections “due to some certain reasons”.

Hafizullah Hashemi, member of the IEC, said the commission has discussed the matter with donor countries and the United Nations to delay the presidential elections for two or three months.

He said the decision has been made to bring more reforms to the Independent Election Commission.

“The members of the (election) commission had talks and discussions with a number of elders of this country. We had their views and advices on the April 20 elections. Many of the elders had the view that the elections should be held with a little delay in order to bring better reforms and have better preparations,” Hashemi said.

The upcoming presidential elections are scheduled for April 20 next year. 

On December 22, the IEC said the candidates registration process for the upcoming presidential elections has started and that so far no candidate has visited the commission for nomination. 

However, the commission said 23 possible candidates have received information packages from the election commission. This process started on December 19, the commission said.

“The election commission has the preparation for holding the presidential elections. We are prepared around 60 to 70 percent,” Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi, a spokesman for the IEC, said.