There have been differences among the lawmakers in respect of 11 provisions in this law which have been ongoing for the past one month. Eventually this law, comprising of 16 chapters and 79 articles, was approved by majority of the Lower House.
The final vote in respect to the Election Law was 96 votes in favor and 36 against, as pronounced by Mirwais Yassini First Deputy Speaker of the Lower House.
Meanwhile, a number of political parties welcomed the approval of this law. The law on Functioning and Governing of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) was also discussed in the Lower House but due to differences between parliamentarians this law didn't receive its approval.
Previously, IEC had said that if the Election Law isn't approved on time by the Lower House the IEC has to hold elections based on the legislative decree of the President.
The Functioning and Governing of IEC Law was sent to the President for his signature. However, with differences in eight provisions regarding this law between the Presidential Office and Parliament, it was once again sent to the Lower House.
These eight provisions where there were differences between the President's office and the Parliament were discussed in the Lower House.
After several rounds of discussions, the Lower House decided to approve the Functioning and Governing Law of IEC with two-third votes. If the Lower House can't approve it, the law will be reconsidered by the Joint Commissions of the National Assembly.
For a long time the approval of Election Law had sparked a number of debates in the Lower House.
Apparently, 11 provisions in the law caused a delay in the approval of the Election Law.
Some of them have been summarised below:
1- Paragraph 20 of the fourth article, the authority of announcing the final results of elections has been given to the IEC.
2- In other articles of the law, the authority to consider the electoral complaints has been given to the Electoral Complaints Commission.
3- Paragraph number two of article number seven states that one electoral site must be given to the Kuchis (nomads).
4- In other articles of this law, the establishment of each electoral site needs to be approved for each province.
5- Other articles of the law state that all suspicious ballot boxes must be quarantined at the electoral centers.
6- Other provisions of this law dictate that vote counting must be done in the district centers.
7- Another issue was regarding the candidacy of Mayors. They must have five years of experience in the same city to be eligible.
Despite all these differences, a number of political parties welcomed the approval of this law.
Sardar Mohammad Rahimi, Spokesman of the National Front said, "We appreciate the approval of the Election Law and hope that the President will sign it and the elections can be held on time."
Abas Nawiyan, a member of the Right and Justice Party said, "With the approval of Election Law more challenges will be experienced and some doubt that in the upcoming elections some fraudulent activities will take place."
Fazul Rahman Orya member of the National Front said, "We don't expect transparent elections from this law and it is most likely that the elections will not be held in a transparent manner."