President Ashraf Ghani in a statement on Monday said that the rejection of the decree by the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) was a setback for electoral reforms.
"With complete respect to the authority of the Wolesi Jirga, the government and the people expected the MPs to propose amendments for the legislative decree and then approve it so that the reforms process would be completed and elections could be held," Ghani's office said in a statement.
The statement said that a special committee of the Ministries of Interior and Finance have started work regarding financial resources required for elections following the approval by Ghani and the National Security Council (NSC). Ghani reportedly sent a letter to the United Nations regarding the importance of the election process and to encourage international support for it.
Despite the rejection of the decree, government will continue its efforts to hold elections, said the statement.
This comes after MPs in the Wolesi Jirga on Monday rejected Ghani's legislative decree on electoral reforms. Only 27 MPs voted in favor of the decree.
A number of MPs said the reason behind rejecting the decree was the interference from a number of circles inside government and from a number of lawmakers as they do it for their own benefit.
Meanwhile, a number of residents took to the streets of Kabul this week in protest over the rejection of the decree and urged Ghani to issue another decree to start bringing reforms to the electoral system.
Bringing electoral reforms was part of the political agreement between Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah during the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG).
