Government has created a special working team to gather candidates’ documents for membership of the election commissions – the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC), President Ghani’s spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said on Monday.
Addressing reporters in Kabul, Chakhansuri said that so far, five candidates have submitted their documents through political parties to the working group.
He said government will continue its efforts to select the candidates in consultation with political parties.
“A technical meeting was held with the [political] parties which are registered in the Ministry of Justice and members of civil society organizations,” Chakhansuri said. “All topics were explained to them. They have one week to introduce their candidates.”
Meanwhile, civil society organizations said that at least 144 candidates have so far submitted their applications for membership of the election commissions.
According to them, 15 candidates will be picked for further proceedings.
“At least 144 candidates have filed nomination papers in two days. There are some female candidates among them but their participation is limited,” said Mohammad Yousuf Rasheed, CEO of Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan.
“I have been selected by a political party. I will apply for the position in accordance with the law,” said Chaman Shah Etemadi, a candidate for election commissions’ membership.
The Election Support Group, which is comprised of election donor countries, in a statement issued on Monday, called on the Afghan government to continue with the transparent selection of members of the election commissions.
“We congratulate the Afghan people on their commitment to the democratic process, as demonstrated at the 2018 parliamentary elections,” the statement said. “We will support the right of the Afghan people to decide their future through a credible electoral process and look forward to the swift finalization of the parliamentary election results.”
The Election Support Group comprises the European Union, the Government of Australia, Sweden (on behalf of the Nordic plus), Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, the United States of America – as well as NATO and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). It is chaired by UNAMA and convenes on a weekly basis.
“The appointments should be made quickly, so as not to delay the necessary preparations for the presidential election. We also urge the Government and all relevant stakeholders to give the Secretariats of the IEC and ECC the necessary support to continue urgent preparatory work. The Electoral Support Group,” the statement reads.
This comes after all commissioners from the two electoral commissions were dismissed from their posts, including the two chiefs, after President Ashraf Ghani signed off on an amendment to the electoral law.