In light of the recent appointments made to the Independent Election Commission (IEC), criticism has already started pouring in. This time it has come from one of the members of the Selection Committee, Gul Rahman Qazi. Mr. Qazi on Tuesday said that by considering ethnicity while selecting the Commissioners of the IEC, President Karzai did not give due importance to the competency of each candidate.
According to Gul Rahman Qazi, if ethnicity is preferred while making any appointment, it automatically suppresses the need of reviewing the competency of the candidates and the Commission could run into a risk of mismanagement and failure.
However, Mr. Qazi who is also the chief of the Commission on Implementation of the Constitution assured that the Selection Committee did its best to select the 27 candidates and send it to the President on time.
The selection of the nine new members of the IEC was accompanied by harsh criticism but the Selection Committee clearly stated the pre-requisites to apply for the post of Commissioner in the IEC.
"Having an Afghan citizenship card, should be competent, should have experience, must have completed 30 years of age, should at least possess a diploma and should have no criminal record were some basic requirements for a person to be able to apply for the post," said Mr. Qazi.
A number of Afghan political parties criticised the selected candidates and said that the Selection Committee should have nominated some renowned academicians who have higher educational qualification.
"Some academicians should have been appointed. Their skills would have helped in the better functioning of the IEC," said Moeen Marastial, member of the Rights and Justice Party.
On the contrary, other political parties welcomed the method adopted for selecting the Commissioners and said that it is a great achievement for the government.
President Karzai on Monday appointed nine Commissioners in the IEC for a term of six years. The Commissioners will now choose two candidates from among themselves and appoint them as the chief and Secretariat of the IEC.
The Selection Committee will now send a list of candidates to the President for selecting the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) members.
by: Sharif Amiri
