Protestors shut down election offices in Afghanistan ahead of vote delayed by three years

Afghan political parties united in recent months to demand a delay in October vote until anti-fraud measures are put in place

Afghan women arrive at a voter registration centre to register for the upcoming parliamentary and district council elections in Kabul, Afghanistan (REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail)

Protesters demanding anti-fraud measures shut down the offices of Afghanistan’s election commission in three of the country’s major provinces on Saturday, just weeks before a vote for Parliament,

The protest is the latest symptom of a political logjam that could turn violent amid a raging war with the Taliban.

The last-minute jockeying over an election already delayed by three years suggests that after five elections over 17 years, costing about $1bn, Afghanistan lacks a basic consensus on how an election should be held and a credible body to oversee it.

The offices were shut in Balkh province in the north, Kandahar in the south, and Herat in the west, according to Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi, a spokesman for the election commission.

In all three provinces, protesters locked the gates of the commission’s offices and pitched tents outside to hold sit-ins.

General Akhtar Ibrahimi, the deputy minister of interior, said the government had instructed security forces to protect the election offices and “to use force if necessary.”

A spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, Shah Hussain Murtazawi, said the government was supportive of proposals to make the election more transparent, but would not allow anyone to impede the process.

“Afghan security forces have the responsibility to protect the election process,” Mr Murtazawi said.

Afghan political parties, who have previously fought bloody wars with one another, have united in recent months to demand a delay in the 20 October vote until convincing measures to ensure fairness are put in place.

The parties say that the number of registered voters, announced as more than 9 million by the country’s election commission, is unrealistically high and the result of fraud. They said that can only be corrected through biometric verification.

The government, and to an extent Western officials in Kabul, accuse the political parties of holding the election process hostage and of trying to negotiate influence because they cannot rally enough of their supporters to register.

Many Afghans fear a repeat of the 2014 presidential election, which was marred by widespread ballot stuffing and months of disputes.

This time, the vote will take place as a resurgent Taliban has taken more territory, and about one-third of the polling stations will not open because of deteriorating security.

New York Times