The Independent Election Commission (IEC) failed to announce the initial list of parliamentary elections candidates by Thursday midnight. 

Based its schedule, the IEC should have announced the preliminary list of candidates for parliamentary elections in June 28, but the electoral body said they received some applications late – which faced the process with a delay.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, the IEC chairman Abdulbadi Sayyad said primary assessment of nomination papers has been finalized and that the initial list will be announced in the near future. 

“Soon a list in which all criteria and conditions have been considered and candidates have been recognized eligible by technical assessment of our colleagues will be shared with the people through the commission's website,” said Sayyad. 

Meanwhile, some activists from Ghazni at a gathering on Friday criticized the zone-based election plan in the province. They claimed that the decision is “illegal”. 

“The election commission should not have duel-faced treatment with the people. It should act based on the law,” Mubashir, an activist, said. 

Electoral monitoring organizations also criticized the decision. 

Election commission chairman however refused to talk about Ghazni election plan during his press conference. 

“We said that today is a technical meeting and you can ask technical questions,” said Sayyad.