Ghani, Abdullah appoints new member for EC

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah have approved Syed Hafizullah Hashemi as the new member of the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan. Officials in the Office of the Chief Executive of the Unity Government confirmed the appointment of Mr. Hashemi today.

CE Abdullah’s advisor Fraidoon Khozun said Mr. Hashemi has been appointed as the new member of the Independent Election Commission after a shortlist of the candidates containing three names was provided to the government leaders. He said President Ghani and CE Abdullah selected Mr. Hashemi from among the three candidates after reviewing their backgrounds and work experiences.

The Office of the President, ARG Palace, said last week that the Selection Committee has provided a list of the shortlisted candidates to the government. The head of the selection committee Javid Rashidi said last week that the committee received 88 application forms for the membership of the election commission since it started its work nearly three weeks ago.

He said at least 57 of the applicants managed to return with their documents to the selection committee office and out of which 27 of them were removed from the list as per the articles 12, 16 of the elections law. According to Rashidi, the committee once again reviewed the documents of the remaining 30 applicants and as a result 13 of them were removed while 17 of them were shortlisted.

Rashidi also added that three candidates were selected in the final phase of the selection after they participated in the written exams as well as in the interviews. The candidates shortlisted by the committee included Awal-ur-Rehman Rodwal, Abdul Zazai Watandost and Syed Hafizullha Hashemi, the selection committee chief said, adding that the committee has performed its work with full transparency and in the presence of the representatives of the UNAMA, media, and civil society.