New IEC, IECC members, secretaries appointed

KABUL (Pajhwok): Hawa Alam Nuristani has been appointed as new head of the AfghanistanIndependent Election Commission (IEC) and Sayed Esmatullah Mal as deputy head and Musafar Quqandi as spokesman of the electoral body, an official said Tuesday.

Mirza Mohammad Haqparast, acting IEC spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News that Nuristani, Quqandi and Mal were introduced to their positions today, but stopped short of going into details.

According another source, the President today appointed Zuhra Bayan Shinwari as new chief of the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) and Maulvi Din MohammadAzimi as deputy and Mohammad Qasim Elyasi as spokesman of the body.

Following amendments to the electoral law and dismissal of former election commissioners, 17 presidential candidates voted last Friday to choose 14 persons as electoral commissioners and chiefs of secretariat for approval from the president.

President Ashraf Ghani, during a meeting on Sunday, selected Sayed Esmatullah Mal, Mawlana Mohammad Abdullah, Aurangzeb, Mohammad Hanif Danishyar, Musafar Quqandi, Hawa Alam Nuristani and Rahima Zarifi as members of IEC and Mohammad Qasim Elyasi, Zahra Bayan Shinwari, Maulvi Din Mohammad Azimi, Mohammad YounusTughra, Sayed Qutbuddin Roidar as members of the IECC.

Under the presidential decree, Chaman Shah Etimadi has been appointed as IECC secretary and Habibur Rahman Nang as IEC secretary.