KABUL(SW): Shah Sultan Akefi, Head of the Electoral Reform Commission (ERC) has said that not a single person who committed frauds in the last year’s Presidential Election has been trialed.
Akefi met with the representatives of the Masharano Jirga (upper house) here today over the suspected fraud and ways to stop it from happening again. After the meeting, the ERC Head said that the Independent Election Commission (IEC) was not answerable to anybody but in the future this institution shall be answerable to the people in future.
Members of the upper house stressed that the electoral bodies should be made answerable to the parliament. The senators noted that if the perpetrators of who committed fraud last year were trialed no one would dare to commit fraud in the future.
The senators felt the need to bring an end to the culture of impunity and bring all responsible to justice.
The ERC Head informed the senators about his trip to various provinces and meetings with the concerned people there. He informed that people at the provincial levels faced numerous problems in terms of casting their vote and ensuring transparency.
The delay in distributing Biometric Identity Cards (BICs) was also criticized in the meeting.
Mohammad Alam Ezedyar, Deputy Speaker of the Senate said on the occasion that the matter should not be further delayed. He stressed that the IEC should be impartial and independent body. “At the moment the IEC has too much of an authority at its disposal that gives it a free hand in committing fraud”, he noted.
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