Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) on Monday 28th of Jadi announced Wolesi Jirga and District Council’s election dates. According to IEC the elections will be held on 24th of Mizan 1395.

In response to the upcoming Wolesi Jirga Elections, the Chief Executive of the National Unity Government said “All proceedings shall be conducted under the supervision of the new Election Commission”.

Besides this, on the one hand the Selection Committee is about to start looking for new electoral commissioners, while on the other hand the Head of the Independent Election Commission states that no entity has the authority to dismiss electoral commissioners.

Herein the questions lies as to what specific challenges and issues face the upcoming elections and at what point the conflict between the Government and the Election Commission would end?

 

The Issue of Legitimacy

Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah’s spokesman labeled the current Election Commission as ”illegitimate‘ and before elections it asked for electoral reforms to take place after a decree by the President to the Parliament.

In fact, the formation of a National Unity Government was the first violation of the constitution, as the constitution does not allow for such a settlement. National Unity governments are formed in countries where different parties have been involved war for years and an air of mistrust prevails, but in Afghanistan such a government was formed needlessly and without the consensus of the Parliament or the general populous[1].

Despite the plethora of issues in the previous regime, at least the issue of legitimacy did not exist and elections were held according to set timelines. Currently, despite all other issues, the current system is faced with the challenge of legitimacy i-e Parliament and National Unity Government itself.

While announcing dates for Wolesi Jirga 2016 elections, the Chairman of IEC said that “According to the law, the Government does not hold the authority to either dismiss us or ask for our resignation. The law has given us the right to continue our jobs for six years”[2]

On the basis of the current electoral law, the tenure of the current members of the Election Commission ends after six years, however out of which only three have passed. But the Independent Election Commission said that the Commission for Electoral Reforms and Selection Committee had no legal standing and the announcement of the Election dates are under the mandate of the current Independent Election Commission.

Reforming the Electoral System

Based on the National Unity Government Agreement signed between President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah a special commission for the reform of the electoral system would be formed, however despite many delays and complications, the President has formed it by a presidential decree.

The National Unity Government agreement on the reform of the electoral system reads: “Immediately after the establishment of the government of national unity, the President will issue a decree to form a special commission for the reform of the electoral system in accordance with Article 7 of the Political Framework. Members of the special commission will be agreed between the President and the CEO. The special commission will report to the CEO on its progress and the Cabinet will review its recommendations and take the necessary steps for their implementation. The objective is to implement electoral reform before the 2015 parliamentary elections.”

The Electoral Reform Commission on 29 December 2015 in a meeting with the President Ashraf Ghani submitted its latest report and declared that their job had been done.

The dates of Wolesi Jirga 2016 election is announced at such a time that the National Unity Government based on the recommendation of Electoral Reform Commission has formed a Selection Committee to recommend new electoral commissioners to President Ghani instead of the current ones.

President Ashraf Ghani issued a decree for the formation of the Election Commission; this decree however was not approved by the Parliament and hence the Wolesi Jirga and District Council 2016 elections would be held under the supervision of the current Independent Election Commission. The President is yet to comment on the dates announced by the current Election Commission however t the Chief Executive has remarked that 2016 elections will not be held under the current Election Commission, but only after reforms and the selection of a new Chairman for the Independent Election Commission is done.. The Chief Executive reasoned that under the National Unity Government agreement, the necessity of forming a new Election Commission was very important.

The President while extending the period of the current Parliament said that the dates of the new elections should be finalized within the month; however the executive office responded that until reforms weren’t brought the dates of the elections should not be announced.

 

The Constitution and Amendments to Electoral Law

Clause 109 of the Constitution states that “Proposals for amending the Electoral Law by Governments in their last year of rule shall not lie under their jurisdiction”. On the basis of the above clause, the Chairman of the Election Commission states that any reforms proposed are against the constitution. In the meanwhile, the current Chairman and Election Commission were accused of rigging during the Presidential Elections. The current constitution does not contain any clause relating to the stepping down of a chairman before his/her six-year tenure. Under Clause 4 Section 6, the constitution states that “the President will select nine out of the twenty seven proposed candidates, amongst which two must be females, for the Commission, who will be appointed for the period of six years.”

The Chairman of the Election Commission states that a proposal for amendments to the Electoral Law had already been sent to the President and he requested the President to implement what was proposed whilst making sure that no interference were allowed or tolerated in the upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani had already formed an Electoral Reform Commission that had submitted a proposal back to the President. One of the proposals was that the Selection Committee nominate candidates for the Election Commission, the Selection Commission is currently working on this matter. The Election Commission on the other hand announced that based on the commitments of the government, the electoral reform process is not yet completed and essential reforms have not been undertaken to ensure transparency during elections.

A number of political analysts are of the opinion that if the committee selection is divided by half amongst Mr.Ashraf Ghani and Mr.Abdullah Abdullah, the chances of having an impartial commission would be eliminated and incompetent individuals would make it onto the commission.

The reform of the electoral system reached an impasse when the President’s orders to the parliament for reforming the electoral system were rejected. Tempers ran high during the roundtable discussion regarding the matter and the bill was voted against.

 

Here at last: IEC announces Wolesi Jirga election date!

About a month ago speculations regarding the date of elections for the Parliament and District Councils existed. President Ghani on December 29, 2015 in separate meetings with members of the Special Commission on Electoral Reform and Selection Committee said that the government was ready to hold elections for the Parliament and councils of the district in the summer and autumn of the next year. But he said that according to the law, the exact date of election is subject to IEC’s discretion. Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah also took part in this meeting[3].

After the President’s statement, the Independent Election Commission declared 24^th Mizan 1395 as the official date of elections. The announcement faced both positive and negative reactions. Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah commenting on the date announcement said that the Electoral Reforms were inevitable.

A number of others welcomed the announcement. Mr. Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi, the head of the New National Front which is considered as a political opposition party, said that he welcomes election date. Yet he stressed the need for Electoral Reforms. He also stated that along with Parliamentary and District Council elections, the Presidential Elections should also be held swiftly and without any delays[4].

 

Who will conduct elections?

With the announcement of the election dates, opposition to the current commission’s management of the previous elections and the supporters of Electoral Reforms came forth. The Chief Executive stated that all operations would be handled by the “new” Election Commission.

The heads of the current Unity Government as per their agreement of power sharing had come to the consensus that Electoral Reforms would be brought about but any such reforms are yet to be seen.

FEFA- Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan expressed its condemnation of the announcement of election dates by the Independent Election Commission without Electoral Reforms and in the state of confusion between the Government and the donors[5]. It declared the setting of dates as impractical. From the opposition, Protection and Stability Council declared that it would not take part in any elections until reforms took place.

 

The Challenges ahead of Elections 2016

The Chairman of the Independent Election Commission has said that the assistance from international community, security of polling stations, election workers, and electoral materials, and security agencies and people’s cooperation with the commission are essential for holding the upcoming elections. In conclusion, the challenges ahead of elections can be shortlisted as follows:

The Budget for Elections: The annual Budget for the year 1395 except the cost of elections was approved by the Wolesi Jirga. The Afghan government will now need to ask the international community for financial and technical help, doing that whilst the conflict between the Government and the Election Commission persists would be extremely challenging.

According to the Commission, the cost of holding Parliamentary and District Council Elections is estimated to be around $60 million; it is yet unclear as who would pay this amount: the Afghan Government or the International Community?[6]

District Council Elections: It would be difficult to hold District Council Elections as compared to Wolesi Jirga elections because the elections of Wolesi Jirga have been held twice in the past decade while District Council Elections is yet to be held under the framework of the constitution. . In Parliamentary Elections, every Province is considered a constituency whilst in District Council Elections, every district is considered one. Elections have to be held in all 398 districts whereas the Government is yet to establish control on many districts in the country.

Security: One of the biggest challenges ahead of the upcoming Elections is the country’s security situation which will have a major impact on this election. The security situation will affect District Council Elections more adversely as there are many districts that are still under the Taliban’s control.

According to a study by Long War Journal, out of the 398 districts, 29 are under complete Taliban control whilst Taliban bases exist in 36 others that the Taliban aim at capturing[7]. In these districts, elections are impossible. On the other hand, ISIS is also active in a number of areas and recent findings show their active presence in Eastern Provinces of Afghanistan[8].

Political Differences: Another challenge prior to elections is the internal political differences of the current Government. These differences may be considered an obstacle for the upcoming elections. In this regard, one circle prior to the announcement of elections requested that the Electoral Reforms should be brought. While the other circle push for the dismissal of the current electoral commissioners and instead wants new ones. But, the current head of Independent Election Commission refuses to resign. Besides this, some are even asking for Presidential Election dates to be announced before Parliamentary or District Council Elections are held. On the other hand some political circles are trying to change the political regime altogether.

The End

[1] Center for Strategic and Regional Studies, Parliamentary Elections & Legitimacy Crisis, Weekly Analysis (122), see it online:< https://csrskabul.com/en/blog/parliamentary-elections-legitimacy-crisis/>

[2] Section 4 of Article 8 of Independent Election Commission’s constitution

[3] For further information about this news see official website of Afghan Presidential office, see it online:< http://president.gov.af/ps/news/56752

[4] For further information see Azadi Radio’s news, see it online: http://da.azadiradio.org/content/article/27496414.html

[5] For full statement of FEFA regarding IEC’s announcement of Wolesi Jirga elections date, read online at:< http://www.fefa.org.af/New-Site/English/index.php/item/62-fefa-s-stance-on-announcement-of-election-date-parliamentary-district-council-by-the-independent-election-commission>

[6] See Mujib Mashal’s Article in New York Times:< http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/world/asia/afghan-panel-sets-election-date-drawing-government-criticism.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0>

[7] Read Long War Journal’s study about the fall of districts from this link:< http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/10/taliban-controls-or-contests-scores-of-districts-in-afghanistan.php>

[8] Center for Strategic and Regional Studies, The falls of districts and its impacts on the present situations, Weekly Analysis (127), see it online:< https://csrskabul.com/pa/blog/%D8%AF-%D9%88%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88-%D9%BE%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%87%E2%80%8C-%D9%BE%D8%B3%DB%90-%D8%B3%D9%82%D9%88%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D9%88-%D9%BE%D8%B1-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%B6/>