KABUL (SW) – One week on, the electoral campaign for the forthcoming presidential polls remains sluggish, observers said.
Yosuf Rasheed, head of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan, told Salam Watandar that the election campaign for this year’s polls is clearly dull in comparison to the previous elections. He cited a number of reasons for this including ongoing talks between the U.S. and Taliban, insecurity and potential boycott of the polls by certain candidates.
The FEFA head also blamed President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah for using state resources for their respective election campaigns.
Rasheed added that some candidates are fearful about potential impediments in connection with the polls that is why their campaign is dull.
Naeem Ayubzada, head of the Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan, said in this regard that the election commissions have failed to nurture peoples’ confidence in this process. He acknowledged that the campaign has not motivated potential voters so far.
When contacted, Mohammad Ali Waizi, spokesman for the ‘Peace and Moderation’ team led by Haneef Atmar, said they have limited their campaign due to lack of transparency in the election process, interference in election affairs by the government and use of state resources by Ghani and Abdullah. He added the ‘Peace and Moderation’ team is not ready to take part in ‘engineered polls’.
Meanwhile, spokesman for the Independent Election Commission, Zabihullah Sadat, asserted ground has been paved for just and transparent polls. He added the candidates should encourage and motivate the masses to take active part in these polls. Sadat added the commission has set a generous limit of more than AFN 400 million for each candidate to spend on his campaign.
Few days back, the Independent Election Complaint Commission blamed Ghani and Abdullah for using state resources for their respective election campaigns, a charge denied by both.
ENDS
