On Thursday 13 September 2018 the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS); launched its recent research paper entitled “Electoral Reform and the Experience of Parliamentary Elections in Afghanistan”. Distinguished academics including youth, civil society members and media representatives attended the event. The purpose of AISS latest research paper sheds lights on Models of Electoral Systems, Types of electoral systems, Understanding Elections in Afghanistan, Afghanistan’s Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) System, Political Parties and Renewed Push for Electoral Reform, Electoral reforms in parliamentary elections, Emerging Trends in Election Participation and Selecting the Most Appropriate System.
Safiuallah Taha, AISS researcher, presented a summary of the main findings of the report and highlighted the fact that “the Afghan government must take ownership of elections by having disputes resolved through the appropriate mechanism. The IEC and ECC must be able to fulfill their mandates without interference from outside actors. To date, many elections disputes have been resolved through the involvement of strong political actors (both national and international) while ignoring mechanisms established for this purpose, thus undermining their credibility and operability. The result is that elections bodies lack any teeth to carry out their mandate”
Mrs. Wasima Badghisi, Operational Deputy of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) was the second speaker of the event. She appreciated AISS for conducting the research. Mrs. Badghisi emphasized that the importance of the research lies in its inclusiveness. The interviews included urban and rural populations as well as the views of women and men equally.
Mr. Naeem Ayubzada, Director of the Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA) was the last speaker of the event. He outlined the problems of the election commission and holding election under three broad areas such as technical, political and security.
The event ended with the Q&A session.