30th December, 2018
The Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) has set July 20 as a new date for the country’s fourth presidential elections, an IEC official said on Sunday.
Abdul-Aziz Ibrahimi, Deputy to IEC spokesman, said that due to some reasons and present issues at the IEC, the commission would not hold the presidential elections on April 20 next year.
“The IEC has decided to postpone the elections to July 20 and the election commission will share a new election timetable with the media soon,” he said.
Among the matters were security situation, operational and technical related issues, he added.
The announcement came as the IEC has not yet announced the final results of the country’s parliamentary elections held on Oct. 20 this year.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) welcomed the IEC’s announcement, calling it “an important moment for democracy in Afghanistan”.
In a statement, Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Afghanistan and the head of UNAMA, also urged “all parties to perform their respective roles in order to ensure necessary timelines and conditions are met for credible presidential elections”.
Nearly nine million people have registered to vote, including more than three million women, according to the IEC.
But the run-up to the elections has been marred by technical and organisational problems as well as accusations of fraud and abuse.
In its statement, UNAMA said it expected a “thorough verification process of registered voters in order for any irregularities to be addressed”.
President Ashraf Ghani is expected to run for a second five-year term, while one of his main backers, ethnic Uzbek Vice President Abdul-Rasheed Dostum, has formed an alliance with powerful leaders.
The last presidential election, in 2014, produced no clear winner after accusations of massive electoral fraud.
Months after the vote, Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah agreed to form a national-unity government in which Ghani took the presidency and Abdullah took the specially created post of chief executive.