Fresh appointments aimed at rigging polls: Presidential hopefuls

KABUL (Pajhwok): Presidential election candidates on Monday said latest appointments and termination of ministers by President Ashraf Ghani were aimed at rigging the upcoming presidential vote.

President Ashraf Ghani has recently fired Information Technology Minister Shahzad Gul Aryubi, Energy and Water Minister Mohammad Gul Ghelmi and Higher Education Minister Khawaja Umari from their posts and replaced them with Mohammad Fahim Hashami, owner of 1TV as information Technology minister and Abdul Tawab Balakarzai as acting minister of Higher Education.

Presidential hopeful Shahab Hakemi said President Ashraf Ghani’s tenure had ended according to the law but he continued in office without shame.

By removing certain persons and appointing new, President Ghani was paving the way for fraud and rigging in the upcoming polls, he said.

“With the appointment of new officials, the president wants to offer them with an opportunity of widespread corruption and embezzlement so they could campaign for him and by the end of the day he would declare himself as winner,” he said.

Enayatullah Hafeez, another candidate, said the law did not provide explanation regarding appointment and removal of officials but morally the president should not get involved in the appointment and removal of individuals for the sake of election campaign.

Referring to recent reshuffle, he said the president wanted to hire individuals from different tribes and ethnicities to key positions so from there he would be able attract public vote for election.

He alleged Ghani from the past few years had been ignoring the demands of people and paying no attention to their legal and lawful demands.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah has expressed concern over the fresh appointments to government institutions, calling them politically motivated and unacceptable.

He said election related accusations leveled against the government had a negative impact on the routine work of the government and activities of women.

Addressing a meeting of the Council of Ministers, the CEO claimed the new appointments to key government positions were made without consultations.

Presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri rejected the allegations and said all appointments took place in line with the law and under the presidential powers and authority. He said no appointment happened for the sake of election campaign.

“Till the election of new president, no one cannon refrain from routine activities. Providing services to people is government responsibility and the masses have the same expectations from the government,” he said.

nh/ma