(MENAFN- Afghanistan Times) AT News Report
KABUL: After travel ban and firings, the Attorney General's
Office (AGO) on Wednesday launched an investigation into allegations that the
Independent Election Commission and a separate complaints commission misused
their authority during last year's Wolesi Jirga elections.
In a statement, AGO said all the 12 members of the two
election commissions were removed from their posts following amendment of the
election law.
To bring a fundamental reform in electoral bodies, President
Ashraf Ghani approved the amendment as a result IEC Chief Abdul Badi Sayyad and
Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) Head Aziz Azizullah Aryayee
were dismissed from their powers.
Discussions and consultations over the draft amendment
started earlier this month and was unanimously endorsed by all groups – before
being approved by Ghani's cabinet on Tuesday.
Now, two secretariat heads, Ahmad Shah Zamanzai from the
IEC, and Mohammad Setigh, from the IECC secretariat are in charge of the
commissions.
President Ghani has given politicians and civil society
members one week to nominate new election commission members.
It is worth mentioning that October parliamentary elections
were marred by chaos, and earned many eye-brows as the IEC's failed to deliver
on its promises of having fair, and free elections, and the full results have
yet to be announced.
Afghanistan who is nascent in democracy is going to have
another round of presidential election in July, which is one of the key pillars
of democracy to be exercised. But at the
same time talks with the Taliban group is underway that likely have raised the
issue of interim-government with the US Special Representative for Afghanistan
Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, as they don't want election at the moment.
Khalizad said he did not discuss over perspective of
interim-government in all round of talks with the Taliban, and the Afghan
government who had been sidelined in the all process of talks, had time and
again rejected the idea.
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