The decision to postpone the announcement of the preliminary results of the Parliamentary elections did not come as a surprise: the ECC has received around 4000 complaints and nullified votes from almost 227 polling stations.
The decision to postpone the announcement of the preliminary results of the Parliamentary elections did not come as a surprise: the ECC has received around 4000 complaints and nullified votes from almost 227 polling stations.
The challenges facing the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) are evident.
A spokesman for the ECC, Ahmad Zia Rafat, said the ECC would not just nullify votes but also disqualify some candidates depending on the extent of the fraud they had committed. The attempts of powerful people to influence the electoral process have become evident over the past few weeks as the counting and complaint adjudication process has gotten underway.
Rafat also said people against whom complaints have been filed include a minister, 6 security commanders, and 2 members of provincial council who intervened in electoral processes. The head of the IEC, Fazl Ahmad Manawi, said some armed groups, Afghan National Army soldiers, police and local power brokers had also tried to commit fraud. He said the IEC has evidence to support its claims, expressing hope that the ECC would assess the complaints in a transparent manner.
The processes of eliminating fraud in this year’s elections have offered some hope of a credible process. The IEC has accused even ministers, security commanders, mayors and some provincial governors of campaigning for candidates and committing fraud. This leads to the hope that the independence of the IEC and ECC can be counted on and that authentic votes will not be wasted and true representative of the people will find their way to the parliament. However doubts persist about whether the IEC can stand up against powerful people.
Some candidates complain that the IEC has been selective in its actions. There is some fear that those who are not powerful enough to defend themselves may be victimized. There are also concerns that not all the fraud can be detected as reforms necessary to ensure a credible process were not put in place before the polling- for example, a voter registry.
However people hope that the process of eliminating fraud will be transparent. If this does not happen the next Parliament may lack even more credibility than the previous one and people may lose their faith in the democratic process.
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