The absence of coordination among government institutions is a major challenge for governance in Afghanistan. Government entities most often fail to properly deliver public services and perform their duties thanks to the problem. The dearth of coordination complicates and delays government’s affairs, and wastes resources. It also inhibits cooperation between various government institutions, and sometimes even turning one organization against another by challenging each other’s decisions.
The election commissions are just an example of the problem. There is still no necessary coordination between the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC). When one commission makes a decision, the other considers it an act of interference in its own affairs, and therefore starts to challenge it rather than extending a helping hand to implement it. Most of the times, their decisions are at odds with each other. The flaw can lead to a lot of problems in key institutions such as the election commissions at this critical juncture. The problem is even of a more serious concern when it comes to the electoral commissions, especially now as their performance has eroded public’s trust in election.
The electoral commissions that are yet to announce the results of the parliamentary election and must hold the presidential election just in a few months should put their differences aside, and coordinate their work in the light of existing electoral procedures and mechanisms. The philosophy of the existence of both bodies is to complement than challenge each other. In controversial issues such as election, the difference of opinions is unavoidable; however, the differences should be sunk by working together rather than grumbling about each other on media. If they cannot set their differences aside, how people should rest assured that their votes will be counted transparently, and can bring about a change. If there are problems and flaws in their procedures, they have to find solutions to them in the light of applicable laws, and eliminate the possibility of overlapping duties.
The discords between IEC and IECC can overshadow the legitimacy of the results of parliamentary election, and preparations for the presidential poll if they are not resolved on time. Moreover, it can further discredit the election. Before their disagreements spread to the presidential election, the election commissions must work together and resolve all the issues.