Yamamoto has said that holding all the elections concurrently would mean “committing suicide”.
KABUL - The head of the UN mission in Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto in a meeting with members of the Independent Election Commission in Kabul on Sunday called for the separate holding of the presidential, the provincial councils and the Ghazni parliamentary elections, a source from the commission told TOLOnews.
The three elections are scheduled to be held simultaneously on September 28.
Yamamoto has said that holding the elections at the same time would mean “committing suicide”.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has rejected the remarks.
Hours after the news broke, UNAMA said a tweet that Mr. Yamamoto stresses the need for timely presidential elections and that the organization respects the independency of the Independent Election Commission.
"Critically important that credible Afghanistan presidential elections take place on time this year. Everyone should play their role to ensure Afghans can exercise their constitutional right to vote without delays," Yamamoto said at IEC today in Kabul.
The UN’s technical advice is that with only four months remaining to 28 September presidential election day there is a need for realism and urgent focus among all actors in Afghan election process, UNAMA said in a tweet.
"The IEC is the independent decision-making body running Afghan elections. The IEC decides on how many elections to hold. The UN provides technical guidance to it and respects its decisions," it added.
This comes as according to the VOA, the chairperson of the Independent Election Commission Hawa Alam Nuristani has rejected a request by the US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells to postpone the provincial councils and Ghazni parliamentary elections.  (Tolo news)