A number of election monitoring groups held a conference on Sunday in Kabul and made recommendations to the election commissions, candidates, security institutions and media about the runoff round. Among other things, they called for the IEC and ECC to terminate employees who were accused of fraud during the first round and have them prosecuted.
Throughout the first round vote counting and complaints investigation processes, observers complained that election officials were not giving them full-access and shutting off much of their work behind closed doors.
The fact that some 3,000 IEC employees were said to have participated in fraud and would be dismissed only caused further concerns about the commission’s work. Observers on Sunday said election officials should be more careful and transparent in the hiring process for short-term employees in the future.
“Those who took a side and are terminated, replacements will be hired, but those who will be newly hired, what’s the guarantee that they will be neutral and will not work in favor of a specific candidate?” Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA) head Muhammad Naeem Ayoubzada said.
"I hope that the IEC will hire the new employees in coordination with the observing institutions and international community,” he added.
Those gathered at the press conference on Sunday, many of whom were civil society people, also urged security forces to take special precautions for ensuring the safety of observers for the remainder of the election.
“As observers have a key role in increasing transparency and gaining the trust of the people in the election process, security institutions must have special preparations for the safety of observers,” National Solidarity of Afghanistan planning manager Mariam Omer said.
Meanwhile, the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) complained that the ECC did not address many complaints filed by FEFA in the first round.
“As we all know, the ECC has been in place for the first time and their experience is limited compared to the IEC,” FEFA program manager Muhammad Naeem Asghari said. "In regards to our complaints, they acted a bit unprofessional.”
Neutrality of election employees; full-access to centers and sites of the IEC; neutrality of security institutions; and prevention of ethnic strife between candidates were among the other main demands of the observers gathered on Sunday.
For the runoff round, the observers called on Afghan media to encourage people to get out and vote. But they also said neutrality would be critical as the final result of this year’s election process becomes more clear.
Despite all of their concerns and requests, the election activists were positive about this year’s process. They said transparency, turnout and security were far better in the first round than in past years.
Source/Fuente: http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/election-monitors-make-demands-pre...
