Political parties close IEC offices in three major provinces

As Afghanistan is only 33 days away from holding the upcoming parliamentary elections, a number of major political parties have closed the offices of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in Balkh, Kandahar and Herat provinces demanding a transparent election and a change in polls system.
The political parties operating under the “Grand National Coalition” had warned to close the IEC offices in Nangarhar, Kunduz, Bamiyan, Panjsher, Faryab and Jawzjan provinces if their demands were not met.
Supporters of the coalition established sit-in camps near IEC office in Balkh on Saturday morning, insisting on the demands of the political parties, including the use of a biometric system for elections, a change in election system and a transparent polling across the country.
The political parties have set deadlines for government few times to address their demands. Last time on August 10, the political parties set a 10-day deadline for a response from government to meet their demands for a change in the country’s election system and ensure that biometric system is used on the day of voting.
The parties included the Council for the Protection and Stability in Afghanistan, Jamiat-e-Islami party of Afghanistan, the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, Hizb-e Wahdat Islami Mardum-e Afghanistan and some political movements including Mehwar-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan.
The political parties also leveled serious accusations against the government leaders over what they described their deliberate attempts to deprive the people from the right to be informed about all aspects of free and credible elections.
In the meantime, the government strongly condemned the closure of provincial election commission offices, calling it an irresponsible act. Fazel Fazly, senior advisor to the President, said in a tweet that while freedom of expression is respected, supported and encouraged the government denounces the irresponsible actions to derail significant national projects.
He said the President issued decree to form a high level team led by the Attorney General’s office to investigate the issues of the fraudulent ID (Tazkira). “However, as of today we have not witnessed any cooperation from political parties who claimed to have detected fraudulent Tazkiras,” he claimed.
“We welcome discussions that can help improve monitoring, observation and transparency in elections. The government is ready to provide conductive environment. But any move designed to delay, postpone or boycott the elections is unconstitutional and against our national interests,” Fazly concluded.
Last month, President Ashraf Ghani issued a decree on elections to prevent any interference in the election process and to ensure the process is held in a safe and transparent environment.
The decree was issued amid growing complaints over government’s “lack of commitment” in terms of holding transparent parliamentary elections in October.