Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

IEC to Hire Experts to Help with Presidential Elections

IEC to Hire Experts to Help with Presidential Elections

KABUL - The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) on Sunday said it plans to hire six experts to oversee preparations for next year’s presidential elections.
According to the IEC, all six experts will work within the framework of the secretariat of the election commission and their contracts will be for one year.
The IEC did however criticize the Presidential Palace (ARG) for not speeding up the process of deciding on a candidate to take over as head of the IEC secretariat.
The IEC has meanwhile called on election monitoring groups and civil society institutions to submit the names of qualified candidates for the presidential election positions.
According to the IEC, the response they got from election watchdogs and activists was not however positive.
Some IEC members and election observers have criticized the move to hire election experts and say they are concerned a parallel body to the IEC could come about which in turn would cause confusion.
“There should be no misunderstanding that they are employees and will work within the framework of the secretariat, they will be hired within the framework of another commission which will work alongside the election commission under the secretariat,” said IEC commissioner Sayed Hafiz Hashemi.
Two years ago government rejected a list of three candidates for the IEC secretariat position. Later, the commission sent the names of 13 candidates to government to lead IEC secretariat. But to date, no one has been appointed.
“There should be qualified and expert people who are impartial and are experts in their work to deal with the election system effectively and give suggestions when needed and cooperate; but there is a fear of a parallel institution, they should not pave the way for individuals to come to the election commission under the pretext of advisors,” said former IEC chief Fazel Ahmad Manavi.
Election watchdogs have also called on government to appoint a qualified candidate as head of the IEC secretariat.
IEC member Sayed Hafiz Hashemi meanwhile said it was up to government to appoint the head of the secretariat.
“The commission is concerned about the vacuum and the absence of the head of the secretariat I think is a big vacuum,” he added.
“The commission makes some decisions on its own and these decisions are then implemented by the secretariat chief. This means that the government is still trying to find a person who agrees with government policies, otherwise the appointment of one person should have been carried out earlier and the process shouldn’t have been delayed so long,” said SediqullahTawhidi, a member of the electoral reforms commission. 
Meanwhile in an update on voter registration statistics, the IEC said since the start of the voter registration process on 14 April, 6,973,446 people have registered to vote across Afghanistan. Of those who registered, 4,542,409 are male, 2,299,902 are female, 130,614 are Kuchis and 868 Sikhs and Hindus.
Afghanistan’s parliamentary and district council elections are scheduled for 20 October. (Tolo news)