KABUL - A source has told TOLOnews that the National Unity Leaders (NUG) recently rejected three candidates chosen for the position of secretariat head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC).
According to the source, the NUG leaders said the three candidates were not qualified for the position and urged the IEC to send the shortlist of candidates for them to assess.
Imam Mohammad Warimach, former member of IEC media commission, Ahmadullah Archiwal Head of Public Outreach of IEC, and Popal Habibi were the three candidates rejected by the NUG leaders.
The institutions overseeing the election process also said the selection of the three nominated candidates by the IEC was not conducted transparently.
“IEC does not carry out its activities transparently and it paved the way for government interference. One (example) of interference is that government did not show its agreement with the three candidates,” Naeem Asghari, head of Afghanistan Free and Fair Election Foundation said.
Neither the presidential nor Sapedar palaces have commented, but the CEO’s spokesman on Thursday said they are against the appointment of former members of the IEC.
“We believe that a well-known person who people can trust should be appointed as head secretariat of the Independent Election Commission,” said the CEO’s spokesman Mujiburrahman Rahimi.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) was however criticized over the delay of selecting candidates for the position and said if the secretariat head is not appointed, parliamentary and district council elections will not be held.
“As long as the selection of the secretariat head is postponed, holding elections and carrying out operational activities will also be delayed,” Masoom Janan Abdul Rahimzai, executive director of Free and Fair Election Forum (FEFA) of Afghanistan said.  (Tolonews)