Sources said President Ashraf Ghani’s election ticket has been completed and that he will enter the race for 2019 presidential elections in the near future.
The presidential elections race is in full swing and more teams are emerging in the arena to “challenge” President Ghani. Presidential candidates’ registration process will end on January 20.
Sources said Ghani’s ticket will include four individuals. Acting Interior Minister Amrullah Saleh and Second Vice President Sarwar Danish will be Ghani’s running mates, said the sources.
The source said Suraya Dalil, former minister of public health, is also part of Ghani’s team as the third person, but the sources did not mention what her position will be.
“Tomorrow (Saturday) or the day after tomorrow, a number of well-known figures will visit the election commission to register (for upcoming presidential elections),” said Zabihullah Sadat, deputy spokesman for Independent Election Commission.
Sources said the Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullh’s team will also be completed in the near future.
The sources said Abdullah is discussing his election team Mohammad Karim Khalili, head of the High Peace Council, and former Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai.
The Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) emphasized that fundamental reforms should be brought to the election commissions to ensure a transparent election.
“Lack of reforms ahead of the candidate registration process threatens the issue of changing the commissioners because among the candidates there might some people who support the incumbent commissioners and the Chief Executive and President also will be among the candidates,” said Yusuf Rasheed, CEO of Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan.
So far, eight candidates have officially announced their bid to run for president.
Abdul Latif Pedram, Hakim Torsan, Sayed Noorullah Jalili, Enayatullah Hafiz, Zalmai Rassoul, Noorulhaq Ulumi, Faramarz Tamanna and Haneef Atamr have so far announced that they will run for president.