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The Independent Election Commission (IEC) Sunday said that delaying next year’s presidential elections is one idea currently being discussed by the election management body. 

After waiting a week to cast their votes, Kandahar residents have finally been able to post their ballots in this parliamentary election. 

Kandahar residents will choose 11 candidates out of 111 parliamentary candidates Saturday, a week after the rest of the country voted.

Having had a week to sort out problems that plagued polling centers and stations around the country last Saturday, it was hoped that by now these issues would have been ironed out. 

The Independent Election Complaints Commission’s (IECC) spokesman Ali Reza Rohani on Thursday announced seven more candidates have been disqualified.

The IECC spokesman said the seven candidates were disqualified for various reasons. Some had criminal records, others were found to be ineligible and one had Iranian citizenship, he said.

According to him, the disqualified candidates were from 6 different provinces.

Two were from Herat and one each from Wardak, Farah, Kunduz, Ghor and Balk provinces.  

With just over a week to go for Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Thursday that it has noted, that despite significant security challenges, progress has been made by the country's security forces to create conditions for the majority of citizens to exercise their right to vote.

Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan said in the statement: "Afghanistan’s security forces are fully responsible for providing security for the elections process." 

President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday issued a decree on elections to prevent any interference in the election process and to ensure the process is held in a safe and transparent environment.

This comes amid growing complaints over government’s “lack of commitment” in terms of holding transparent parliamentary elections in October. 

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) office on Thursday said the plan to classify electoral constituencies in districts was being referred to the Independent Election Commission (IEC) within a week after its finalization.

CEO spokesman Javid Faisal told a press conference here that the upcoming Wolesi Jirga and district council elections would be managed through needed technology and legal procedures to purchase the technology had been completed.

The IEC says that work still needs to be done by the election commission before they can think of setting a date.

The suggestions were sent by the Electoral Reforms Commission to the IEC after a three-month working period

Ahmad Zia Massoud on Tuesday strongly reacted to his dismissal as President Ashraf Ghani's Special Representative on Reforms and Good Governance.

On Monday, President Ghani in a decree ordered the dismissal of Zia Massoud and dissolved his position. The decree didn’t make clear why the move was taken.

Rejecting his dismissal, Massoud suggested that his appointment to the post came following a codified deal with the president.

“You (Ghani) have got no right or power to fire me,” Massoud said at a press conference in Kabul.