For the first time in the country’s history, two women, Hawa Alam Nuristani and Zuhra Bayan Shinwari, were elected to lead two main national institutions of Afghanistan – the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC).
Hawa Alam Nuristani is a former lawmaker and has a bachelor’s degree in law. She got eight votes from 17 presidential candidates who voted for 81 applicants of the posts of election commissioners at a ceremony held at the Presidential Palace on Friday, March 1.
During her career, Nuristani has worked as a TV presenter for the National Radio-Television, a clerk in Ministry of Women’s Affairs, member of the Wolesi Jirga, member of the High Peace Council, human rights commissioner and as member of the Oversight Commission on Access to Information.
The seven members of the Independent Election Commission, meanwhile, elected Esmatullah Mal as deputy head of the commission and Musafir Qoqandi as secretary of the IEC, said Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi, a spokesman for the IEC.
Zuhra Bayan Shinwari, who was elected as the chairperson of the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission, also has a bachelor’s degree in law.
The new commissioners for the Independent Election Commission and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission were sworn in at a ceremony at the Presidential Palace on Monday, a day after they were appointed to the posts by President Ashraf Ghani.
The new leadership of the electoral bodies took over as they are faced by major challenges since the results of Wolesi Jirga election have not been announced almost four months after it was conducted.
Moreover, they have to make the necessary preparations for the upcoming presidential election slated for July 20, but some speculations suggest that the poll may be further delayed for the sack of peace talks with the Taliban.