Electoral bodies should not bring Afghanistan into crisis: MPs

KABUL: Some members of the house of representatives on Wednesday said that the electoral commissions should not bring the country into a crisis, saying these institutions should separate “clean” votes from fraudulent votes and not hold the valid votes “hostage.”

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has not set a date for when it will announce the results of the preliminary election. “The election commission should announce the results as soon as possible,” said Yarbaz Hamidi, a parliament member. Some say delaying the announcement of the presidential election results has lowered the credibility of the election commission.

“The longer the election results are delayed, the more the public’s belief in the process and in the IEC goes down. The Afghan nation can no longer tolerates excuses,” said Rangina Kargar, a member of parliament. At the same time, Amir Khan Yar, first deputy speaker of parliament, emphasized the need for electoral commissions to act on the basis of law, not based on the personal interests of electoral groups.

“We do not advocate for a team, but we do advocate for the people. They [electoral commissions] act according to the rules and should not put the national process into a crisis,” said Amir Khan Yar.