Afghanistan is in dire need of significant reforms to its electoral bodies in advance of scheduled parliamentary elections, UN officials have warned.

On January 2, Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced that it was scheduling parliamentary elections for May 22. But the country and its international backers are still reeling from the turmoil of the badly flawed presidential elections, held last August.

Accusations of massive fraud cast doubt on the legitimacy of the process, and many domestic and international organizations have raised concerns about the fairness and transparency of the upcoming vote.

Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said that the international community must respect Afghanistan's sovereign right to schedule elections, but warned that reforms must take place as a confidence-building measure.

He refrained from saying that UNAMA would unconditionally support the decision that has been made by the IEC.

"We will have to judge our level of engagement depending on progress made in reforming these key institutions ahead of any poll," he said.

But hesitancy from Western allies of Karzai’s government, especially the United States appears to be increasing.
 
A US Congressional delegation that met with Karzai in Kabul last week said it had warned the president that holding the election without first enacting substantive electoral reform could undermine US assistance to the country.

But the IEC rejects reports about the reluctance of international community to support the parliamentary elections.

“We have not received any official reaction from the international community that says that they are not supporting the election,” said Dawood Ali Najafi, a senior official in the IEC. “But in this regard, a paper was issued by the United Nations which made certain recommendations and requested certain reforms.”

According to Najafi, reform of the electoral law was one of the issues raised by the international community, however, he added, “it is not in our control, it is up to the parliament to approve the electoral law.”

Najafi said that the IEC needs about 50 million US dollars from the international community to meet the election's estimated budget of 120 million. No international donors have yet pledged the money.

It is not clear whether the vote would or could be held if the international donors do not provide the assistance.