IECC pledges fair probe into complaints

KABUL): The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) said on Sunday it had started investigating complaints against presidential and provincial council runners in an impartial manner and in the presence of their representatives.

The electoral watchdog held out the assurance to the 16 presidential wannabes who were excluded from the preliminary list of candidates. They were called to the IECC office to present their objections to the Independent Election Commission (IEC) decision.

According to rejected candidates, Daud Sultanzoy and Bismillah Sher were disqualified for having dual nationality and the rest for failing to meet other conditions, including their inability to produce the required number of voter cards.   

Sattar Sadat, the watchdog’s head, assured the poll contestants their objections would be investigated with full impartiality in light of their arguments. The panel would soon announce its findings, but Sadat hinted at extending the deadline in case of need.  

“We have appointed a team, headed by Aryafar. It has already investigated the problems to some extent and rest will be addressed in light of your suggestions. And we will try to do so in the presence of your representatives. If all people aren’t satisfied, we believe, election legitimacy could not be achieved,” he remarked.

After the final list of aspirants is displayed in mid-November, presidential runners will be allowed to canvass for 60 days from February 2 and provincial council candidates for 30 days from March 4.

The rejected candidates once again accused the IEC of pursuing double standards in vetting their documents, complaining their representatives and journalists had been barred from overseeing the process.

Some of them resubmitted their papers and voter cards of their supporters to IEC, claiming the panel had provided the IECC and contenders with conflicting information on numbers of their supporters.

Anwarul Haq Ahadi, Syed Ishaq Gilani, Bismillah Sher, Fazal Karim Najimi, Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai, Sarwar Ahmadzai, Hamidullah Qadiri, Daud Sultanzoy, Azizullah Ludin, Salman Ali Dostzada, Farooq Azam, Khadija Ghaznavi, Abdul Hadi Dabir, Noor Rahman Lewal, Dawar Ahmad Naderi and Nader Shah Ahmadzai were excluded from the initial list.