The National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan led by the First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, said that President Ashraf Ghani has requested Dostum to once again support him in the 2019 presidential elections.
President Ghani and Vice President Dostum were in one team in 2014 presidential elections.
Bashir Ahmad Tahyanj, spokesman for the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, said Dostum has not made any decision in this regard so far.
“President (Ashraf Ghani) is still waiting for the decision of Vice President (Abdul Rashid Dostum) to see what he will decide. Yes, they (president) are interested to make a team with the Vice President,” said Tahyanj.
The remarks are expressed as one week has remained for the launch of registration process of presidential elections candidates.
So far, President Ghani, former national security advisor Haneef Atamr and Shaida Mohammad Abdali, former Afghan ambassador to India, have said they will run for president.
The Presidential Palace did not comment on the report. But a number of a possible candidate said they are ready to fill registration papers.
“In my talks and discussions with the people, I also talk about my team. I want to have people’s opinions to see which kind of team they want,” Abdali said.
The Independent Election Commission meanwhile said they have finalized the operational plan for the presidential elections and have the required preparations for the process.
“The preparations that were needed were operational plan and training of employees for registration. Fortunately, the operation plan has been approved by the commission,” said Sayed Hafizullah Hashemi, spokesman of the election commission.
Some electoral monitoring organizations said delay in activities relevant to parliamentary elections will have negative impacts on the presidential elections timeline.
“The election commission showed to the people of Afghanistan and the international community that the elections timeline is not important,” said Yusuf Rasheed, CEO of Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan.
The election commission admitted the shortcomings in parliamentary elections activities.
“There were lots of shortcomings and weaknesses in our operational affairs and we are late from the timeline,” said Hashemi.
The commission has so far announced preliminary results of parliamentary elections for 23 provinces. The parliamentary elections were held on October 20.
According to IEC, the presidential elections will be held on April 20. The registration of candidates for presidential elections will be held from December 22 to 2nd of January 2019.
