The Same Person, Nominated in Two Provinces Simultaneously

The preliminary lists of parliamentary candidates, published by Afghanistan Independent Election Commission (IEC),

shows that a woman has been simultaneously nominated in two different provinces. According to the primary list, Ms. Maryam Kofi has been nominated both in Badakhshan and Takhar provinces.

To see the preliminary list of Badakhshan candidates, click here.

To see the preliminary list of Takhar candidates, click here.  

According to Afghanistan Election Law, aside from Kochis (nomads) whose electoral district (constituency) has not been specified; other citizens of Afghanistan can run for elections only from those electoral districts where they have received their voting cards. Also, a person cannot be candidate in two provinces simultaneously.

According to IEC regulations, a person who is running for parliamentary election, has to have a voting card from the province where he/she is running for election, must submit 1000 voting card serial numbers and signatures of his/her supporters, as well as documents of his/her property. If the documents of a candidate are incomplete, his/her name will be excluded from the candidates’ list.

On the other hand, the name of Hashmat Khalil Karzai, President Hamid Karzai’s cousin, and owner of a security firm, who has been accused of killing Waheed Karzai – another relative of President Karzai, is on Kandahar’s candidates list.  On December 19, 2009, The New York Times published a story about the accusations of Hashmat Karzai.

These incidents show that the upcoming parliamentary election is facing different challenges, and the process is not transparent enough. 

Now the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) is expected to carefully adjudicate these incidents, however there are doubts that whether the commission would do so.

We can judge the performance of ECC after publication of the final list as the watchdog body is expected to accurately and carefully perform its tasks. 

Afghanistan’s electoral legal framework is another controversial issue. Although Karzai’s legislative decree regarding the electoral framework was twice rejected by the parliament, it is has been considered the legal framework of upcoming parliamentary elections by the IEC.