What Ashraf Ghani Wants?
The Legislative Decree of the President on the election says that the IEC should send the name of three individuals to the president in order to pick one as the head of the commission secretariat.
The election commission had sent a list of names to president Ghani to pick one as the head of the secretariat of the commission. but the president rejected the list, saying the issue needs more precision.
There is no doubt that appointing one as the head of the IEC secretariat need more precision. The 2014 election was controversial due to the presence of Mr. Amarkhail in the IEC secretariat. Abdullah’s electoral campaign published the audio clips related to Mr. Amarkhail, in which he openly ordered for fraud. It is clear from the memoirs of former security officials that the audio clips were recorded by government institutions.
A person should be the head of the secretariat of the election commission that all political forces would agree on him. If there is no consensus, at least one should have no pessimism on the person who will be appointed as the head of the IEC Secretariat. The IEC needs to play independence to strengthen its image. Voters should see that IEC is ‘Independent’. Otherwise, few people will go to polling centers. Afghanistan needs the massive participation of its citizens in the parliamentary and district councils elections. The lawmaker institutions should have electoral legitimacy. On the other hand, a massive participation in election increases the legitimacy of an establishment. Taliban and terrorist groups do not believe in electoral legitimacy. The government and their desirable social establishment should receive their legitimacy from the fatwas of their favored mullahs. They want a non-selective religious dictatorship. In their view, the elected government should be destroyed.
The Afghan government needs electoral legitimacy, and the election is the legitimacy. The country’s constitution introduces the election as the source of legitimacy. For this, a widespread participation in the election is a kind of referendum between the government and Taliban. But a massive participation is possible when the IEC exercise its independence and a non-partisan figure should come as the head of IEC commission. Meanwhile, sources say that presidency is looking for a person to pursue its electoral goals.
The IEC should be exact in announcing the statistics of the election. The commission should allow reporters to see the documents of voters at provinces and Kabul. The commission should allow the documents at registration centers be compared with the statistics at the election commission. If reporters would not be able to compare the documents with statistics, there will be ethnic and political distrust. The presidential palace should have legal demands from the IEC. The Legislative Decree of the President on the election says that the IEC should send the name of three individuals to the president in order to pick one as the head of the commission secretariat. But now, the presidency emphasizes that more than three individuals should be introduced. Such demeanor is illegal. What law judges should be followed.
Finally, the IEC as a body holding the election should prevent frauds and political demands of the presidency, so that the people do not feel repent going to polling stations and be satisfied with participating at a democratic process.
Faramarz Dawlatabadi – (DID) news agency
Translate by Zaher mahjob.
