Afghanistan's Presidential Election Delayed by Several Months

The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan announced on Wednesday a new decision to postpone the presidential election in the country by several months. The commission had previously stated that the presidential election was scheduled to take place on 31 Farvardin 1398 (April 20, 2019). According to the Associated Press, Abdul Aziz Ebrahimi, the deputy spokesman for this commission, said that the delay is necessary to resolve technical issues related to the election. One of the major problems hindering the proper conduct of the recent parliamentary elections in Afghanistan was the incomplete voter lists and technical failures in biometric devices. Biometric devices are used in Afghanistan's elections for fingerprinting and facial recognition of voters and to match this information to prevent double voting. Mr. Ebrahimi also mentioned that more time is needed to train election staff on how to use these devices. Afghan officials had recently stated that in light of severe criticisms regarding the conduct of last month's parliamentary elections, the presidential election scheduled for late Farvardin (mid-April) might be postponed. The registration of candidates for the presidential election was supposed to take place from 1 to 12 Dey 1397 (December 22 to January 2). The commission had also announced that the preliminary list of candidates would be published on 18 Dey (January 8). The parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, held on 28 Mehr 1397, faced delays and chaos due to violence and technical deficiencies, with several explosions at polling centers in Kabul resulting in at least 18 deaths and 65 injuries. Afghan election officials are still engaged in the accurate counting of votes from that election. The postponement of the presidential election is also announced while U.S. officials are in the process of negotiating with the Taliban to end the 17-year war; according to Reuters, there is concern that holding this controversial election may derail negotiations with the Taliban. On the other hand, the delay in the presidential election could provoke serious opposition from political groups. Many of these groups accuse the current president, Ashraf Ghani, of intending to 'engineer' the upcoming elections for his reelection. Meanwhile, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, a former national security advisor of Afghanistan and the second most powerful political figure in the country, recently announced his intention to run for the presidency and compete in this election against his former boss. Mohammad Hanif Atmar, of Pashtun descent, was an intelligence officer in the former communist government of the country who lost a leg in the 1980s while fighting against Soviet-backed Mujahideen. The second day of elections in Afghanistan was delayed by a week in Kandahar amid violence and technical deficiencies. Mattis stated that the recent attack in Kandahar would not affect the security situation in Afghanistan.