Members of the public and the elections observers on Sunday once again blasted the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and accused it of being “weak” over its failure to release final parliamentary election results for 15 provinces. 

Critics claim the problem is rooted in the commission’s poor management of the process. 

“Preliminary results are being announced gradually, the final results are announced gradually and after a long delay... The process has moved forward in contravention of the law from the beginning,” said Marwa Amini, spokesperson for Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan.  

The IEC officials, however, said the final results for Ghor, Badghis and Logar provinces will be announced within the next few days. 

Afghanistan’s long-delayed parliamentary elections were held on 20 and 21 October last year and were followed by reports of widespread fraud and mismanagement.  

Some Afghans from different parts of the country said there is a need for a good management of the elections in order to restore public trust in the national process.

“As a citizen, I believe that delaying the results indicate the poor management of the (IEC) officials in Kabul and in other provinces,” said Hasibullah, a Herat resident. 

“The results should be according to the will of the Afghan people. Because people defied many hurdles and voted in a highly insecure situation,” said Wais, a Balkh resident. 

On Saturday, IEC officials announced the credentials of a number of parliamentary election winners who have secured seats in parliament. 

Officials from the IEC and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) said parliamentary elections were held because of the dedication and hard work of the election commissions. 

“I have complaint from those who are not taking the election commission serious. Can you find any government official without a problem?” asked IEC chief Abdul Badi Sayyad. 

“Whatever is said about the commissions, they are nothing except a conspiracy against this nation and against the credibility of the system,” said IECC Chief Abdul Aziz Aryaee. 

This comes after the Presidential Palace said in a statement on Friday that a draft amendment of the election law will be finalized within the next two days. 

President Ashraf Ghani on Friday said the amendment to the election law was necessary and had been called for by almost all stakeholders. 

“The draft amendment has been prepared. After taking the opinions of all concerned people into consideration, the law will be amended based on the draft,” said Ghani. 

On February 2, the office of the Second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish said government leaders were working on an amended election law and that Ghani will issue a legislative decree in the near future to approve the draft.  

The draft amendment indicates that reforms have been considered in at least 20 articles and items of the election law. Two possible amendments are on how the head of the election commissions and their members are appointed and on what their authorities of the election commissions are.