The Independent Election Commission (IEC) will not struggle financially to manage next year's presidential election given the financial pledges from donors; the greater concern is security for the polling booths, the commission chief said Tuesday.
At a briefing before Afghanistan's senators on Tuesday, IEC chief Fazil Ahmad Manawi said that while there is no anxiety related to the budget, there are concerns that if the government doesn't ensure security for 7,000 polling stations it puts the entire election at risk.
"There will be 7,000 polling stations. The security organisations should present an exact report of the stations to the Independent Election Commission about their security measures so that we don't face any challenges and can hold election there," Manawi said.
He said multiple donors have committed to funding the election budget and there is no concern in connection with financing the poll and its extra staff.
The senators voiced their concerns about the security, fearing not only the activity of insurgents but the influence of other powerful figures.
"The provincial governors and police chiefs should not have any interference in the election. Their interference needs to be prevented. In the last election, we witnessed a number of local officials intervening in the election and they were campaigning for some specific candidates," senator Tayeba Zahidi said.
Senator Gul Ahmad Azimi said he feared some parts of the country were not suitable to have polling stations.
"Some of the districts in the country are not suitable for holding an election. If there is no security there will be fraud," Azimi said.
"Insecurity is the main challenge ahead of the election so security forces should consider it and the election should be held on the specific date," senator Ali Akbar Jamshidi said.
It is understood that the IEC will employ up to 160,000 people for the April 5 election. But it is still unclear how many 7,000 stations will actually be able to operate without security problems.