Lawmakers have lambasted the Council of Minister's decision to do away with the independent Election Complaints Commission in its redraft of Afghanistan's election law, hailing it as a surefire move towards a fraudulent presidential election.
The Council of Ministers on Monday decided to remove the existence of the ECC and hand its election supervision responsibilities to the Supreme Court following months of top-level disagreements over whether two foreign experts will be allowed to sit on its seven-person board.
"It's very ridiculous that President [Hamid] Karzai removed the Election Complaints Commission from the election draft. He's not confident enough to launch an election," Kandahar MP Mohammad Naim Lalai Hamidzai said Wednesday.
"Everyone knows that the courts are involved in corruption. How we could trust them to announce the correct results of the election?" Ghor MP Sima Joyenda said.
Parliament in October approved the draft election law including an ECC with two foreign commissioners, but the decision was criticised by Karzai as a violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty.
The Senate approved the election law but rejected the article allowing foreign commissioners.
The Council of Minister's decision will require Parliament approval. The Council has recommended that the Karzai-appointed Supreme Court form a new election body to oversee the poll results.
The presidential election is slated for April 5 2014.