New assessment by the Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA) reveals serious management inability within the Independent Election Commission (IEC) as the timeline for the September presidential elections looms. 

TEFA said that management inability within the election commission has also reasoned to few Afghans to register as voters ahead of the presidential elections. 

 Based on the TEFA findings, alongside security threats, a lack of effective public awareness campaign, absence of balanced coordination between the voter registration centers have also overshadowed public interest to register for the elections.  

 “It is a state of confusion not only for us but also for the election commission and the people of Afghanistan. So far, we are not confident whether the elections will be organized on the 6th of Meezan (28 September),” said TEFA spokeswoman Sughra Saadat.

 “We have always moved alongside the election calendar, so we call on the observers to deal with the process technically,” said Zabi Sadat, spokesman to IEC. 

 According to election teams, there are serious irregularities in the process within the election commission and such issues could undermine the credibility of the presidential elections.

 “It is good for the commission to specify its line with the government candidates, otherwise we will not be able to conduct healthy and transparent elections,” said Arif Kayani, spokesman to presidential candidate Rahmatullah Nabil. 

 According to IEC, over 383,000 Afghans newly registered last month in 34 provinces during the new phase of the voter registration process.

 IEC says that over nine million Afghans had already registered during the parliamentary elections. But the figure has been challenged by the critics.