As the controversy around the disqualification of 35 parliamentary election candidates continues, officials from the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) on Wednesday said that the election process is now facing a stalemate over what they described as wrong decisions by the Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) regarding the issue.

As dissatisfaction grew, protestors also closed the regional offices of the IEC in Nangarhar, Kunduz and Logar provinces on Wednesday. 

Protestors have also surrounded the IEC headquarters in Kabul for the past three days.

Referring to the issue, IEC commissioner Sayed Hafiz Hashemi said that the election process is now facing a crisis due to the ongoing issues and that the IECC is responsible for the situation.

In this episode, host Sadaf Amiry discusses the topic with Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi, deputy spokesman for IEC, Akbar Stanekzai, a disqualified candidate, Fazl Rahman Oria, senior member of National Coalition and Wahida Farzaye, a member of Afghanistan’s Lawyers Union.