Gov’t destabilizing regions ahead of poll: Hekmatyar

Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar on Tuesday lashed out at government over the election process and implied it was already rigging the polls.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul, he also said government has destabilized some areas in the country for its own benefit in order to ensure people aren’t able to vote in the scheduled October 20 elections.
On the issue of district council elections, Hekmatyar says he wants to know who made the decision to postpone these elections.
He said money spent by government leaders would be better spent on salaries for district council members.
He had been referring the issue of district council members not being paid salaries. As a result, dozens of districts around the country ended up with no candidates.
This led to the IEC putting these elections on hold.
Hekmatyar accused the government of not wanting to hold transparent elections. He also questioned why four million refugees and two million internally displaced people are being deprived of the right to vote. He said government told the IEC that refugees cannot vote.
On a more personal level, Hekmatyar slammed government for not sticking to its peace agreement with Hizb-e-Islami.
He said at the time of the signing of the accord, government promised the group would have a say in elections. This has not however happened, he said.
He said the group had no intention of destroying government but simply wanted to ensure transparent and fair elections are held.
Hekmatyar stated that they had approached the international community about their concerns but were told it was an “Afghan matter and that the international community would not interfere in the elections.” The Hizb-e-Islami leader said government is sinking in corruption and states government is a “corporation”.
On the issue of the biometric system, he said that government has agreed to incorporate the system and that a budget of $15 million has been approved.
According to him, political parties will be briefed on the system within the next few days.
He is insistent that elections be held on time and said it is government’s duty to ensure this.
Hekmatyar states that 90 percent of the people of Afghanistan do not have a representative in parliament. He says the current election system being used in the country is used nowhere else in the world and is being imposed on the people.
Earlier in his speech he accused government and the IEC of wasting time and for having used the excuse that there was no time to implement a biometric system. He says political parties demand parliamentary elections to be held on time.
Hekmatyar raises the issue of exclusion of political parties in the election process, stating without their participation a strong incoming government would not be possible.
Hekmatyar says the independent election commission has been formed by government and that opposition groups have been deprived of taking part in elections.