KABUL (Pajhwok): The newly-formed opposition party, Security and Stability Council (SSC), on Monday said it would not participate in future elections until electoral reforms were implemented.
Earlier in the day, Independent Elections Commission (IEC) Chairman Yousuf Nuristani told a news conference in Kabul that the panel was technically prepared to hold the delayed parliamentary election on October 15, 2016.
But SSC spokesman Massoud Tarshatwal told Pajhwok Afghan News the schedule was announced while complaints against systematic fraud in last fall’s presidential elections could not be addressed and electoral reforms yet to take place.
“As long as there are no electoral reforms, the council will not participate in any elections. We have already said the parliamentary elections should be conducted between spring and summer before September,” he said.
The council, an alliance of former jihadi leaders including veterans like Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayaf, Mohammad Younus Qanuni, Ismael Khan and Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal was established a month ago.
Another newly-created party, led by Anwarul Haq Ahadi, was careful in comments on the election schedule.
Ahadi said the front was not against announcing the schedule, but their suggestion was that fresh presidential elections should be conducted simultaneously with the parliamentary and district council elections because the unity government had lost legitimacy.
He said the IEC should inform people about its strategies on how to ensure transparent elections because the bad experience of the past elections brought the country on the brink of a new civil war.
Fuente: http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2016/01/18/stability-party-wants-fresh-polls-a...
Autor: Ahamd Quraishi
