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Massoud Calls for Interim Govt to Ensure Transparent Elections

Chief Executive of the National Coalition party of Afghanistan Ahmad Zia Massoud on Tuesday accused Afghanistan’s government and the country’s election commission of trying to engineer the upcoming elections.
 
He said that the coalition will do everything to prevent fraudulent elections in Afghanistan.
 
Meanwhile, the office of the Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah has reiterated that holding the elections is the only option where people can demonstrate their democratic rights.
 
He said that the government hopes the Afghan people and the political parties also mobilize to support the election process.
 
Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections are set to be held on 20 October.
 
But, Afghanistan’s mainstream political parties argue that the current method which has been outlined by the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) is fraudulent and warned that they will disrupt the elections unless their demands are met by government.
 
According to election monitoring groups, the Afghan government and the election commissions failure to ensure transparency around the upcoming parliamentary elections, could result in a crisis for Afghanistan.
 
Speaking exclusively to TOLOnews, Massoud said that the only options that could determine free and fair elections is the establishment of an interim government in the country to oversee the process.
 
“When a government does not have the ability to control a country, it is good and it is a principle that a consensus is created, what we want is an interim president along with 25 ministers and all other structures remain in place,” said Massoud.
 
Meanwhile, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar-led Hizb-e-Islami group has also said that it will take steps to press the Afghan government and the IEC to consider some reforms in the election process upon which the political parties have been pushing for.
 
“We believe that the discussion around an interim government is not practical and it is not beneficial, Hizb-e-Islami does not have any kind of opinion about the interim government,” said Humayoun Jarir, member of Hizb-e-Islami.
 
“We hope that satisfaction of all sides is obtained in the election process, because we do not have an alternative except to hold the elections,” said Omid Maisam, deputy spokesman to CEO Abdullah Abdullah.
 
“We called on the parties to come and work together with us if they really want transparency,” said IEC commissioner Sayed Hafiz Hashemi.
 
This comes a few days after the Grand National Coalition of Afghanistan exposed thousands of fake national identity cards and voter stickers at an event on Saturday.
 
Members of the coalition said such an attempt will provide the ground for widespread fraud in the upcoming elections.
 
Photos of government officials, influential figures and MPs were used in the fake identity cards. The photo of Jabbar Qahraman, an MP and analyst, was used for five ID cards with stickers on them.
 
According to the election commission, more than nine million people have registered to vote in the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in the country.
 
On Monday, election watchdogs and observers said that the country’s upcoming parliamentary and next year’s presidential elections are facing serious challenges, citing electoral fraud, security threats and the Ghazni electoral stalemate as key factors they believe will impact the process.
 
“Fake stickers have been recovered, why did the election commission not announce earlier that so many stickers had gone missing,” said Abdul Wakil Babakrkhail, a member of Election Watch Afghanistan (EWA).
 
“The election process is a national process, people must be taken into confidence about all aspects of the issue on time,” said Gul Ahmad Azimi, a member of Afghanistan’s Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament).
 
According to election monitoring groups, the Afghan government and the election commissions failure to ensure transparency around the upcoming parliamentary elections, could result in a crisis for Afghanistan.
 
The political parties and movements have warned that if the election commission and the government fails to determine transparency of the elections process, the country will be in a new turmoil.

Massoud Calls for Interim Govt to Ensure Transparent Elections

Ahmad Zia Massoud said the only way to determine free and fair elections would be to establish an interim government. 

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Chief Executive of the National Coalition party of Afghanistan Ahmad Zia Massoud on Tuesday accused Afghanistan’s government and the country’s election commission of trying to engineer the upcoming elections.
 
He said that the coalition will do everything to prevent fraudulent elections in Afghanistan.
 
Meanwhile, the office of the Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah has reiterated that holding the elections is the only option where people can demonstrate their democratic rights.
 
He said that the government hopes the Afghan people and the political parties also mobilize to support the election process.
 
Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections are set to be held on 20 October.
 
But, Afghanistan’s mainstream political parties argue that the current method which has been outlined by the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) is fraudulent and warned that they will disrupt the elections unless their demands are met by government.
 
According to election monitoring groups, the Afghan government and the election commissions failure to ensure transparency around the upcoming parliamentary elections, could result in a crisis for Afghanistan.
 
Speaking exclusively to TOLOnews, Massoud said that the only options that could determine free and fair elections is the establishment of an interim government in the country to oversee the process.
 
“When a government does not have the ability to control a country, it is good and it is a principle that a consensus is created, what we want is an interim president along with 25 ministers and all other structures remain in place,” said Massoud.
 
Meanwhile, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar-led Hizb-e-Islami group has also said that it will take steps to press the Afghan government and the IEC to consider some reforms in the election process upon which the political parties have been pushing for.
 
“We believe that the discussion around an interim government is not practical and it is not beneficial, Hizb-e-Islami does not have any kind of opinion about the interim government,” said Humayoun Jarir, member of Hizb-e-Islami.
 
“We hope that satisfaction of all sides is obtained in the election process, because we do not have an alternative except to hold the elections,” said Omid Maisam, deputy spokesman to CEO Abdullah Abdullah.
 
“We called on the parties to come and work together with us if they really want transparency,” said IEC commissioner Sayed Hafiz Hashemi.
 
This comes a few days after the Grand National Coalition of Afghanistan exposed thousands of fake national identity cards and voter stickers at an event on Saturday.
 
Members of the coalition said such an attempt will provide the ground for widespread fraud in the upcoming elections.
 
Photos of government officials, influential figures and MPs were used in the fake identity cards. The photo of Jabbar Qahraman, an MP and analyst, was used for five ID cards with stickers on them.
 
According to the election commission, more than nine million people have registered to vote in the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in the country.
 
On Monday, election watchdogs and observers said that the country’s upcoming parliamentary and next year’s presidential elections are facing serious challenges, citing electoral fraud, security threats and the Ghazni electoral stalemate as key factors they believe will impact the process.
 
“Fake stickers have been recovered, why did the election commission not announce earlier that so many stickers had gone missing,” said Abdul Wakil Babakrkhail, a member of Election Watch Afghanistan (EWA).
 
“The election process is a national process, people must be taken into confidence about all aspects of the issue on time,” said Gul Ahmad Azimi, a member of Afghanistan’s Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament).
 
According to election monitoring groups, the Afghan government and the election commissions failure to ensure transparency around the upcoming parliamentary elections, could result in a crisis for Afghanistan.
 
The political parties and movements have warned that if the election commission and the government fails to determine transparency of the elections process, the country will be in a new turmoil.

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