Three arrested in connection with assassination of Jabar Qahraman

Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the apparent assassination of the parliamentary candidate, Abdul Jabar Qahraman, the Ministry of Interior said on Wednesday.

“Qahraman was among four people killed by the blast, another seven were wounded and three suspects have been arrested,” Wais Ahmad Barmak, the interior minister said.

Qahraman became the 10th election candidate to die ahead of Saturday’s polls when the blast tore through his campaign office.

“Abdul Jabar Qahraman had been meeting with supporters in his campaign office in the southern province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded,” provincial governor spokesman Omar Zhwak added.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted online.

In the wake of the attack, President Ghani condemned the group, saying they will not undermine citizens’ faith in democracy.

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IECC accepts some candidates violate election law

The Independent Electoral Complaint Commission (IECC) accepts that a number of parliamentary election candidates violate election law during their electoral campaigns.

“We are witnessing that a number of candidates who want to join the house of nation violate the law. They are using public and private areas for their electoral campaigns,” Humaira Haqmal, a member of IECC said.

Meanwhile, IECC receives a number of complaints about the election process but without any documents.

IECC officials warn that any complaint without document will not be addressed.

“We accept those complaints that have documents. We will not address complaints that lack documents,” Haqmal added.

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IEC punishes 52 candidates for launching early election campaigns

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has imposed cash penalty ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 AFN fine on 52 parliamentary elections’ candidates who began their election campaign ahead of the scheduled timing.

Addressing a press conference on Friday in Kabul, the head of the IEC media committee, Rafai Rafiq Sediqui said the candidates have been penalized for launching their campaign before the scheduled timing on social media or banners and placards in some parts of Kabul.

The official added that the electoral law allows them to make warnings, penalize or refer the offenders to judiciary institutions with the agreement of the Independent Electoral Complaint Commission (IECC).

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Candidates call for reopening of IEC offices

A number of candidates of parliamentary elections said they are concerned over the closure of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) offices in Kabul and other provinces following protests by disqualified candidates.

The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) disqualified 35 individuals from the final list of the parliamentary elections candidates earlier this month over the complaints it received from the people. The move met with protests by disqualified candidates in Kabul, Nangarhar, Balkh, Logar, Kunduz, Badakhshan and few other provinces where the protestors closed offices of the IEC.

The candidates said they call the commission and government to address the demands of the protesting candidates. They said continuance of the protests will affect the electoral process.

“We have considered a clear time for us and if it the protests continued it will create problems from a time and economic point of view,” said Hadi Miran, a parliamentary elections candidate.

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IECC adds 104 dropped names to candidates’ list

The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) on Monday re-added 104 people to the parliamentary election candidates’ list from a total of 134 dropped names.

The IECC Spokesman Ali Reza Rohani said that the individuals were previously dropped from the preliminary list due to a number of issues including problems in their presented documents, adding that the objections of remaining possible candidates against the election commission have been rejected.

The election observers, meanwhile, said lack of proper coordination between the electoral commissions causes the decision-making process to be delayed.

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The decision to drop 25 names from candidates’ list draws protest

The decision of the assigned committee of the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) to drop 25 names from the parliamentary election candidates’ list has drawn protest in Kabul.

The current parliament member Fawzia Koofi whose name was also removed from the list, on Saturday protested against the decision.

She said the plans being taken at the committee were political and were under the government’s consideration.

MP Alagul Mujahid, meanwhile, said that the government wants to remove Mujahideen from the list in order to make way in the parliament for those holding dual citizenship.

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IECC registers over 600 complaints against candidates

The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) on Tuesday said it has registered at least 600 complaints against candidates who are hoping to run for parliament in the October 20 elections.

IECC secretary Mohammad Reza Rouhani said that complaints were also filled against candidates who have links with illegal armed groups and that a special commission will investigate these allegations.

If complaints against the candidates are found to be legitimate and true, their names will be dropped from the list, said the IECC.

“The special commission has started its work. Some of the complaints are filed against individuals who either have links with illegal armed groups or who are in some way related to these acts; these complaints will be probed by the special commission,” said Rouhani.

According to the IEC, 2,691 candidates, including 404 women, have filed nomination forms as candidates.

“The complaints commission will investigate the matter and if anyone is found guilty their name will be dropped from the list,” said IEC secretary Sayed Hafiz Hashemi.

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IEC to announce initial list of parliamentary polls candidates

The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) will announce the preliminary list of candidates for parliamentary elections by Thursday midnight. 

The commission will not select applications of those applicants whose documents do not comply with the law, head of the IEC Abdulbadi Sayyad said at an session on assessment of nominees’ documents.

“The commission will not facilitate those who have not prepared their documents according to the law. For instance, a candidate has not received the form to prove whether he committed any crime or a candidate whose supporters are less than the figure which has been stated in the law,” said Sayyad.

Based on the electoral calendar, the IEC should have announced the preliminary list of candidates for parliamentary elections on June 28, but electoral body said they received some applications late – which faced the process with a delay.

“When the open session is ended and the commission approves it, the system will decide about the fate of the candidates who will remain and who will be dropped from the list. We are trying to publish the list by 12am tonight,” said IEC commissioner Sayed Hafiz Hashemi. “We received documents of candidates from six provinces just yesterday,” he said.

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Candidate registration for upcoming elections to begin on Saturday

Registration of candidates for parliamentary and district council elections will begin on Saturday (May 26), the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced Thursday.

According to IEC, the registration process would begin in two days and continue until June 12 across the country.

Afghan citizen, who is 25 or over, can register his name and contest the legislative polls. Moreover, the candidates should bear 1,000 followers; education plays no role in their candidacy status.

“No one can get official candidacy status before announcement of the final list of candidates by the election commission,” said Hafizullah Hashimi, a member of the IEC.

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