Supporters of a number of political parties and political movements on Wednesday staged a demonstration in two areas of Kabul to press the Afghan political leadership and the election commission to meet their demands regarding the election process. The protestors criticized the Presidential Palace for its reluctance to create a joint commission of government and the political parties to undertake some basic changes in the election system and warned that they will expand their civil protests unless government and the Independent Election Commission (IEC) meets their demands for reforms in the election system. However the Presidential Palace (ARG) so far has not reacted to the move, but the election commission has hit out over the demands by the political parties – especially that involve a biometric system on election day.
The IEC argues however that there is not enough time to roll out reforms ahead of the October elections.
The protests were organized by Afghanistan’s mainstream political parties including Jamiat-e-Islami party of Afghanistan, Hizb-e-Islami, Junbish-i-Milli Islami Afghanistan, Hizb-e-Wahdat and the Grand National Coalition of Afghanistan.
“The independent election commission is a puppet commission, it is a slave commission, in fact this commission is aimed to impose and dictate certain elements on the determination of the nation,” said a member of the Grand National Coalition of Afghanistan, Mohammad Essa Rahimi.
Full Article: Parties Threaten More Protests In Absence Of Electoral Reforms | TOLOnews.
