The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Wednesday said that the election management body has finalized the schedule for next year’s presidential elections and that an official announcement will be made once consultations have been completed with the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC), election watchdogs and the country’s political parties and movements. 

Officials from some of Afghanistan’s mainstream political parties have meanwhile said that consultations have started between politicians about their candidates for the next year’s presidential bid in Afghanistan. 

The political parties however clarified that if the results of October 20 parliamentary elections do not satisfy them, these parties will announce their stance in terms of the IEC’s ability to hold presidential elections. 

Based on the election law, the candidates have only ten days to file nomination papers for running in the presidential elections. 

The IEC will likely announce the schedule for presidential elections next week. 

“The presidential election calendar is ready. The calendar will be shared with the political parties, the electoral complaints commission and election watchdogs next week,” said IEC secretary Sayed Hafiz Hashemi. 

In the meantime, officials from Jamiat-e-Islami party of Afghanistan, Hizb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami party of Afghanistan, Junbish-i-Milli party of Afghanistan have said that the politicians have started consultations about possible candidates.

“First we should create the electoral team and then we should sit and nominate the one whom we believe is able to pull our nation and our country out of the present situation and one who is trusted,” said Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, chairman of Hizb-e-Islami party of Afghanistan.

“What will be the fate of the final results of the commissions and the concerns which prevail in this regard. Do they (election commissions) have the capacity to come up with effective results taken from the biometric system or not? The coalition will take a decision in this respect and will check whether this team (IEC) has the capacity to hold the presidential elections and to find out whether they have worked honestly in the parliamentary elections so that this job is assigned to them,” said Noor Rahman Akhlaqi, a member of the leadership council of Jamiat-e-Islmai party of Afghanistan. 

However some political parties have predicted that President Ashraf Ghani, CEO Abdullah Abdullah, former national security advisor Mohammad Hanif Atmar and former minister of interior Mohammad Omar Daudzai could possibly run as candidates in the elections. But officials of The Council of Protection and Stability in Afghanistan have said that so far they have not reached a decision about their presidential candidate.

“Some people are hoping to run in the elections, but they have not finalized it, the council has not nominated anyone to run in the presidential elections,” said Jamaluddin Badr, member of The Council of Protection and Stability in Afghanistan.