ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s unity government has postponed parliamentary elections for at least one year as political wrangling continues in the country at a time when the Taliban have stepped up their attacks. Taliban claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in recent days ; the deadliest in Mazar-e-Sharif on the office of the attorney general which killed 10 and injured dozens of people.
Afghan Second Vice-President Sarwar Danesh told the National Assembly on April 1 that parliamentary elections would be held after a year. However, the Afghan Constitution stipulates elections must be held between April 23 and May 23. It says polling must take place a month or two before the first day of the Afghan month of Saratan, which begins June 22.
Stuck on reforms
In his swearing-in ceremony in September 2014, President Ashraf Ghani had publicly committed to introducing electoral reforms, but the process has not started yet.
An electoral reforms committee was constituted six months after the formation of the unity government. However, the committee’s composition caused controversy after Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah reportedly complained he had not been consulted in the appointment of its head.
Political commentators and civil society also raised objections to the appointment of Member of Parliament (MP) Shukria Barakzai as the committee head, claiming she belongs to Ghani’s camp and so may not work impartially. The committee has not formally begun work.
In view of the alleged fraud in the two rounds of presidential elections last year, a majority of Afghans favour electoral reforms to ensure fair and transparent parliamentary polls. However, many do not endorse the decision to delay the polls under the excuse of electoral reforms.
Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani, the head of the Independent Election Commission, has reportedly said the postponement of parliamentary polls is unconstitutional. The president has not issued any decree nor has the parliament amended the Constitution to allow the one-year delay. Nuristani says the current Parliament cannot amend the Constitution in the last year of its tenure.
Moreover, the media is also critical of the failure of Ghani and Abdullah to work jointly on electoral reforms.
“The two leaders had agreed in their power-sharing formula to bring about democratic reforms. But it seems the unity government does not show an interest in democratic reforms,” said Hasht-e-Subh daily in an editorial this week.
Similarly, Cheragh Daily also criticised delays in reforms. “For days now, the issue of reforming the election commissions has been put forward, but so far the legislative decree to begin the process has been delayed several times. It is said that foreign pressures are behind this,” it wrote on April 1.
The privately-run Mandegar reported disagreements between Ghani and Abdullah over the chairmanship of the electoral reforms commission. “These divisions show the national unity government leaders still cannot agree. President Ghani should not play games with this commission and should not miss opportunities, while Dr Abdullah should make serious efforts for reforming the electoral bodies,” read an editorial.
Series of attacks
The political crisis persists before the launch of the Taliban’s ‘Spring Offensive’, which begins late April or early May.
On April 9, a group of Taliban bombers stormed a judicial complex in Mazar-e-Sharif, killing at least 10 people and injuring nearly 60 others. A suicide car bomber hit a convoy of US forces near Jalalabad on Friday, killing at least four people and injuring 12 others. Moreover, 12 people were also killed the same day in a roadside bomb blast in Ghazni province.
The Taliban attacks reflect they are in no mood to pursue the policy of political reconciliation. It seems the armed group has also turned down suggestions by Pakistan and China to join the intra-Afghan dialogue.
Tahir Khan
Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/867716/afghan-parliamentary-polls-postponed-...
