Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT News
KABUL: The Taliban have dissolved election commission and its subsidiary complaints panel which both supervised polls during the previous administrations, says a Taliban spokesman.
Spokesman Bilal Karimi said on Saturday that “there is no need for these commissions to exist and operate” referring to the Independent Election Commission and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission.
“If we ever feel a need, the Islamic Emirate will revive these commissions,” he said.
The Taliban swept to power in August as a Western-backed government imploded in the final stages of a chaotic military withdrawal by the United States.
Established in 2006, the IEC was mandated to administer and supervise all types of elections, including presidential, according to the commission’s website.
“They have taken this decision in a hurry … and dissolving the commission would have huge consequences,” Aurangzeb, who headed the panel up until the fall of the previous regime, told the AFP news agency.
“If this structure does not exist, I am 100 percent sure that Afghanistan’s problems will never be solved as there won’t be any elections,” said Aurangzeb, who like many Afghans goes by only one name.
Before the Taliban takeover, several electoral commission officials were killed by armed groups.
Karimi said the authorities had also dissolved two government departments this week – the ministry of peace, and the ministry of parliamentary affairs.
