Fazl Hadi Muslimyar, Senate Chairman and member of the Selection Committee of the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), on Saturday announced that the Committee held its first meeting to select the nominees for ECC membership.
Mr. Muslimyar said that the Committee had begun to prepare the list of nominees and on Sunday it would give a final review of the nominees' documents. The Committee is expected to submit a list of 15 nominees, from which President Karzai will select five candidates and appoint them as ECC members.
On Wednesday, President Karzai asked the Selection Committee to hasten its submission of the nominees list. The Office of Administrative Affairs and Council of Ministers Secretariat (OAACMS) reinforced the President's request with an explicit ten day deadline.
According to the Law on Job Descriptions and Authorities of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and ECC, a representative from the civil society should be a part of the Selection Committee. However, due to apparent differences between civil society groups and the OAACMS, no such person was placed on the committee. Mr. Muslimyar claimed that the problem centered around the fact that the civil society groups nominated three candidates for selection committee membership rather than the one they were legally allotted in the election laws.
"As a member of the selection committee, I could not nominate one from the selection of three candidates put forth by the civil society groups for the selection committee; the civil society groups shouldn't have nominated three people for the selection committee," Mr. Muslimyar said.
Meanwhile, several political parties warned that any decision taken by the Committee in the absence of a civil society representative would not be considered legitimate.
"If the list of nominees is submitted to President Karzai without consulting the civil society, we will not accept the decision," said Fazl Rahman Orya, spokesman of the National Coalition.
Mr. Muslimyar said that the onus was on the civil society groups, who needed to get their process of nomination for the Selection Committee representative correct.
"If the civil society organizations do not resolve the issue, we will not be delayed and will proceed with our work," he said.
The same issue had cropped up during the selection process of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), when no civil society representative was included on the Selection Committee.
According to the Law on Job Descriptions and Authorities of the IEC, it is stated that members of the ECC would be serve a six year term. It is also mentioned that the ECC will work independently from though alongside the IEC. Additionally, the Law clearly mentions that all decisions of the ECC with regard to voter fraud, other election violations and election complaints would be final and binding.
The IEC is permitted to announce the results of the Presidential and Provincial Council elections set to take place on April 5 of next year only after the ECC gives the go ahead.