KABUL (Pajhwok): Provincial councils (PCs) members in 26 provinces on Sunday voted to elect their administrative boards and the ballot was postponed till Monday in the remaining eight provinces mostly due to a lack of quorum, an official said.
KABUL (Pajhwok): Some Meshrano Jirga or upper house of parliament members on Sunday insisted on the announcement of parliamentary election schedule and asked the proposed selection commission to commence its work as soon as possible.
Senator Gul Ahmad Azami told today’s session that the delay in holding the elections was tantamount to killing democracy.
He said not conducting elections made people hopeless and if the process was not accelerated, there would be more problems in the country.
KABUL (Pajhwok): Electoral Reform Commission (ERC) members on Monday said their evaluation study on changing electoral system, shrinking constituencies and defining role of the transparency committee has been somehow finalised.
At the end of August the Electoral Reforms Commission (ERC) following discussions with different segments of society submitted its set of 10 suggestions regarding electoral reforms to the government. The President approved seven of the suggestions and tasked the panel to find ways for implementation of the other three suggestions.
Presidential Palace has asked media organizations, civil society and women's rights organizations to nominate their members for the selection committee which will then appoint new election commissioners.
President Ashraf Ghani's deputy spokesman, Sayed Zafar Hashemi, said Tuesday that only four organizations have so far introduced their representatives.
Mir Abed Joenda.-
TOLOnews on Wednesday officially launched a new website - From Words to Action - which aims to track the progress of President Ashraf Ghani's pre-election commitments and the National Unity Government's (NUG) post-election commitments.
The aim of this is to promote government accountability.
But the reform panel maintains all its efforts have been in line with the presidential decree.
KABUL (Pajhwok): The Afghanistan Congress Party on Thursday asked the government to set dates for the long due parliamentary and district council elections without further delay.
Mohammad Aziz Asefi, the party’s leadership council head, told journalists here the government should announce dates for the elections to Wolesi Jirga and district councils since the ballots and a subsequent Loya Jirga were necessary for resolving of the current problems and legitimising the government.
As widespread battles continue in suburbs of Kunduz city in northern Afghanistan, the Afghan public's criticism over government's handling of the situation and that of security in the embattled province has gathered momentum in the past two weeks.
A number of displaced Kunduz residents said on Sunday that the National Unity Government leaders have not kept promises they made to change Kunduz in to a hub of economic development and commercial activities.
KABUL (Pajhwok): A Wolesi Jirga member on Monday accused some lawmakers of receiving bribes from ministers in return for cancelling parliamentary summons.
Based on Article 92, a minister could be summoned by the suggestion of 20 percent of lawmakers. If the minister could not provide satisfactory answers, he or she can be unseated with a no-confidence vote by a majority of MPs.
Election watchdogs on Monday stressed early nomination of selection committee’s members so they could choose new commissioners on the electoral bodies.
The observers urged selection of honest and qualified people in the proposed committee in order to avoid irregularities in elections and confrontation between leaders of the unity government.
Unhappy with the so-called weak performance of the admin board of parliament, some Afghan lawmakers on Monday claimed that the Wolesi Jirga's board is involved in corruption and that the board was not strong enough to be effective.
Lawmakers also accused the board of being egotistical and hindering lawmakers in efforts to monitor the government.
KABUL (Pajhwok): Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Abdullah Abdullahon Monday said a date for Wolesi Jirga (WJ) polls would be announced by new commissioners after reforms in the electoral system.
As discontent continues between the Electoral Reform Commission (ERC) and Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) over reform packages, an IEC official said Saturday that the election management body was getting close to announcing a proposed date for the nation's parliamentary elections.
Speaking to TOLOnews, Aziz Bakhtyari, an IEC commissioner said that the commission was preparing to submit a proposal containing the date for parliamentary elections to President Asharf Ghani within two days.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced on Tuesday that they will suggest an election date to President Ashraf Ghani next week, when they deliver the final document on the matter to him.
This comes despite the expectation that the elections will be delayed for another year.
According to Sareer Ahmad Barmak, IEC commissioner, the draft document for the date will be finalized next week and submitted to the president's office.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has issued a decree approving most of the electoral recommendations presented by the Electoral Reform Commission.
Sayed Zafar Hashimi, the deputy spokesman for the president, on Sunday said that the president had issued a legislative decree approving seven (out of 11) electoral reform recommendations.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Months late, Afghanistan’s electoral reform commission has delivered a list of proposals, in a critical step to holding overdue parliamentary elections.
Afghan Electoral Reform Commission on Sunday presented its reform proposal to government.
The package included 11 major recommendations including invalidation of existing voter cards, launch of e-ID cards and ‘parallel’ system of voting where one-third of parliamentary seats shall be allotted to political parties.
Shah Sultan Akifi, ERC’s chief, also said that the package included recommendations over appointments in the Independent Election Commission and Electoral Complaints Commission.
Two members of the Afghan Electoral Reform Commission on Saturday boycotted the body claiming it was working more for the interests of political parties.
The protesters argued that a plan outside national interest was already imposed on the 12-member commission.
“It should have been a national commission but unfortunately it has been turned out as a multi-party agenda,” said Kawwon Kakar, one of the protesting members. “The parties with their representatives in the commission tried to impose their plan there.”
Afghanistan continues to see delays in launching electronic identification cards that was planned some five years ago.
19 August was set by the ministerial council for the issuance of the cards to begin; however, President Ashraf Ghani ruled it out for some other day.
However, unlike expectations, the president failed to set to a particular even as he chaired regular cabinet meeting last Thursday.
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