Afghanistan- New Election Commissioners Sworn In

(MENAFN- Daily Outlook Afghanistan) President Ghani says government is committed to preventing any interference in election affairs.
KABUL - The new commissioners for the Independent Election Commission and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission took the oath of office at a ceremony in the Presidential Palace on Monday, a day after they were appointed to the posts by President Ashraf Ghani.
Addressing the ceremony, Ghani said the new commissioners are representing all Political parties and presidential candidates.
'Everyone witnessed that the new commissioners were elected in a transparent process, Ghani said.
Ghani said all violations in elections will be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
'No members of the Independent Election Commission and Independent Electoral Complaints Commission should have any link with any political party. All relations of the new commissioners with their parties or other organizations should end after this, Ghani added.
The new commissioners will select their chief within the next two days, Ghani said.
Ghani mentioned that the parliamentary elections results should be released in the near future.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said the National Unity Government is committed to bringing reforms to the election commissions.
Abdullah said emphasizing on holding presidential elections does not mean ignoring the peace process and that both peace and elections are the demand of Afghan people.
Abdullah said the new commissioners should announce the results of the parliamentary elections and that they should be prepared for the upcoming presidential elections – which have been scheduled for July 20.
This comes after President Ghani on Sunday by issuing four decrees announced the list of new members of the Independent Election Commission and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission as well as the heads of the secretariats of the two electoral bodies.
The commissioners were selected from amongst 81 candidates for whom 17 presidential candidates voted at a ceremony in Presidential Palace on Friday, March 1.
Based on President Ghani's decree, the new IEC members are:
• Sayed Esmatullah Mal, 36, who got nine votes out of 17 is from Balkh province. He has a master's degree in law.
• Mawlana Mohammad Abdullah, 36, who got nine votes, is from Panjsher province. He has a bachelor's degree in law from Kabul University.
• Awrang Zeb, 39, who got eight votes, is from Paktia province, has a bachelor's degree in agriculture.
• Mohammad Hanif Danishyar, 35, who got seven votes, is from Ghazni province. He has a bachelor's degree in sociology.
• Musafir Qoqandi, 36, who got eight votes, is from Faryab province and has a bachelor's degree in social sciences
• Hawa Alam Nuristani, 46, who got eight votes, is from Nuristan province. She has a bachelor's degree in law.
• Rahima Zarifi, who got six votes is from Ghazni province.
Habib-Ur-Rahman Nang was appointed as head of the secretariat of the Independent Election Commission, according to President Ghani's decree.
Based on President Ghani's decree, the new members of the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission are:
• Mohammad Qasim Elyasi, 48, who got eight votes, is from Ghazni province. He has a PhD in philology.
• Zuhra Bayan Shinwari is from Parwan province and has a bachelor's degree in law.
• Din Mohammad Azimi, 44, who got six votes, is from Ghor province. He has a master's degree in criminology.
• Mohammad Yunus Toghra, 42, who got eight votes, is from Faryab province. He has a master's degree in administration.
• Sayed Qutbuddin Roidar, 39, who got seven votes, is from Paktia province and has a bachelor's degree in religious sciences.
Based on President Ghani's decree, Chaman Shah Etemadi is the new head of the secretariat of the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission.
This comes after all commissioners from the two electoral commissions – the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) – were dismissed from their posts, including the two chiefs, after President Ashraf Ghani signed off on an amendment to the electoral law.

Ghani approved the amendment on February 20, which resulted in the instant dismissal of the commissioners – including IEC chief Abdul Badi Sayyad and IECC Aziz Azizullah Aryayee.

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