Nangarhar protestors demand biometrics-based polls

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Hundreds of supporters of the Grand National Alliance (GNA) on Saturday staged a protest demonstration in the capital of eastern Nangarhar province to demand elections based on biometric technology.

The protestors emerged from the residence of Hazrat Ali, a Wolesi Jirga) in Jalalabad, where they made their complaints.

They voiced on the government, the IEC and the international community to facilitate transparent and biometric system based elections in Afghanistan.

Lawmaker Hazrat Ali, also a member of the GNA, who was leading the protest, said their aim was seek transparent parliamentary elections.

“We want transparency and use of biometric technology in elections, we would continue our protest if our demands are not accepted,” he said.

He said the grand alliance had decided to shut down IEC offices and district roads to provincial capitals across the country if transparency was not ensured in elections.

Other participants of the protest also demanded transparency in the upcoming Wolesi Jirga and district council elections and warned against a repeat of frauds happened in last elections.

Rahimullah, a protestor, said: “We want fraud-free elections, we cannot accept rigging in polls and deals on people’s votes.”

Habibullah Hanafi, another protestor, said people in the last presidential elections suffered a lot as their fingers were cut off by militants andthey did not want the past problems to repeat again.

The protestors had shut down the IEC office in Nangarhar last week, but police reopened it and detained 15 demonstrators.

The IEC maintains it is people’s right to protest but closing their offices created problems for elections.

mds/ma