KABUL - Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah on Monday said he had reached an agreement with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on cleaning up the election system,and the reform process would begin tomorrow.
Chairing a meeting of the Council of Ministers, the CEO said elections were an essential process in a democracy. Without reforming the entire regime,the electoral exercise would not have any impact, he noted.
“Without reforms, elections lose their importance and were perceived as a rigged by the people. Therefore, the government is trying to reform the system so as to restore public trust in the democratic exercise,”remarked the CEO.
He said the slow pace of reforms had angered some notable figures and alienated them from the government. He, however, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to reforming the system,a promise no one should doubt.
Earlier, the Wolesi Jirga had rejected two presidential decrees on election reforms,holding up the process. The hiring of new commissioners was one of the major points of the government’s reformation agenda.
But the sitting commissioners insisted they could not be removed before the expiration of their tenures in 2019. Ahmad Yousaf Nuristani, head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC),stood down some months back.
Abdullah termed the Warsaw summit a successfor Afghanistan, saying NATO countries had hailed Afghanistan’s efforts to counter terrorism, eliminate corruption and reforms the election system.(Pajhwok)