The executive director of Jamiat-e-Islami party Atta Mohammad Noor says the “current election commission is not acceptable to the people”.
Addressing a gathering in Mazar-e-Sharif city on Sunday, Noor, the ousted governor of northern Balkh province, said the Independent Election Commission (IEC) needed to be reviewed. “The commission's members have been elected by the three government leaders, so how we must accept the credibility of upcoming election’s result.”
“We have always said that the governor and mayors must be elected, but it has not happened. It should be the people who elect the governors and mayors. Those who are elected by the people would be accountable,” he said.
Noor believes that the IEC needs to be reformed. “If the election commission is not reformed, the election result would be invalid.”
“The IEC commissioners must be elected with the participation of civil society activities, the Supreme Court, the International Community and the people’s representatives. If not, this commission would not be accepted by the people,” he said, adding: “We will have a very bad election compared to the last time.”
He also criticized the government saying “there is no any meritocracy in the government. Is it a meritocracy to dismiss a person who is working well?”
Noor’s remarks have been expressed amid the unresolved tensions between him and President Ashraf Ghani over the latter’s approval of his resignation.
The Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) says Engineer Mohammad Dawood has been appointed as Balkh governor to replace Noor. However, Noor says he won’t leave Balkh unless the government and Jamiat-e-Islami party reach an agreement.
On Saturday, Noor also said at a gathering that corruption is centered in the presidential palace and in the National Procurement Authority (NPA).
He said the presidential palace and NPA are centers of corruption and that their anti-corruption slogans were just lies.
“Corruption is in the presidential palace. The special procurement commission for big projects is a big source of corruption,” said Noor.
Noor claimed he has documents that show millions of dollars have been embezzled in the security forces’ fuel contracts under the pretext of customs exemptions.
The presidential palace has not commented on Noor’s remarks and defense ministry refused to talk to TOLOnews about his accusations.