The Independent Election Commission (IEC) was about to take the initial steps toward implementing the plan of holding zone-based elections in Ghazni province on Saturday, but due to some reasons it was postponed.

“We had promised to announce in start of this week, but unfortunately the commissioners were busy today and couldn’t able to discuss [the issue] in a meeting,” said Hafizullah Hashimi, a commissioner of the IEC.

The plan to divide Ghazni into three separate electoral constituencies for the upcoming parliamentary and district council elections has already followed strong criticism as some MPs and people called it “illegal” and described it as “discriminatory” move.

Some election observers consider the plan as “inapplicable”.

“The security issues in Ghazni [province] can’t be solved by dividing it zones. Another solution should be found,” said Shams Rasikh, a member of FEFA.

This comes as the parliamentary and district council elections are scheduled for October 20. Except Ghazni, all other provinces are single electoral constituency.

Ghazni becomes the first province to be divided into three separate constituencies for the upcoming elections.