Following the closure of the provincial offices of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) by supporters of the Grand National Coalition of Afghanistan, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah says the move will not help to have a transparent election in the country.

Speaking at Council of Ministers meeting on Monday, Abdullah said that the people want to have fair and transparent elections in the country, but closing the election commission offices will not help us in this regard.

He said having a biometric system in the election process which has been suggested by political parties will help us ensuring transparency in the process. He stressed that steps have been taken in this regard and that if the political parties have any comments, it could be discussed.

Chief Executive, meanwhile, said the election commission as an independent and responsible organization should continue talks with political parties, “because the issue of transparency is not just the demand of one or two political parties but the demand of all people.”

This comes as the IEC offices in Balkh and Kandahar provinces remain closed. Recently, the supporters of GNCA have closed the IEC office in Nangarhar province, creating more tensions to the election commission which has already warned of delaying the upcoming elections.

According to article 104 of electoral law, the election could be delayed by four months from its scheduled date in case of natural disasters, security situation and other related incidents that could prevent or harm the legitimacy of the election process.  

“We will refer to the article 104 of the election law, which allows us to delay in the election,” said Hafizullah Hashimi, a commissioner of the IEC.