Electoral observers blame commissions for crisis

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Some members of the electoral monitoring organizations said the current situation is concerning and that the election commissions are responsible for it.

“The (election) commissions are responsible for the political turmoil and for the discrediting of democracy,” said NaeemAyubzada, head of the Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan.

Mohammad Hakim Torsan, who ran for president in last year’s presidential elections, said on Monday that Abdullah and Ghani are power mongers and that they should make efforts to end the crisis.

“The United States has no option but to interfere to save Afghanistan from division,” Torsan said.

Afghans in different parts of the country said they are tired of the current situation.

“They are the culprits. They are not thinking about the people,” said Mohammad AslamNasiri, a Kabul resident.

“They are seeking to take power, but they are not aware of the poor people,” said Tela Mohammad, a Kabul resident.

But the election commissions officials have rejected any suggestions of impropriety in their activities.

“We were impartial,” said Zuhra Bayan, the chairperson of the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission. “We only focused on the complaints and made our decisions based on them.”

“We implemented this, and, ultimately, it was the people’s right that we announce the final results,” said HawaAlamNuristani, the chairperson of the Independent Election Commission.

Members of some electoral campaigns meanwhile suggested the focus of the government on peace.

“An authoritative source should be established for intra-Afghan negotiations,” said FazlHadiWazin, a member of GulbuddinHekmatyar’s campaign.

“There should be an independent location from here (Kabul), same as the Taliban has an independent address,” said Motasim Agha Jan, a former Taliban member.(TOLOnews)