Civil society institutions on Wednesday asked the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to establish a more formal framework for civil society and its involvement in preparation for the upcoming election.
Although the IEC and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) have gone out of their way this year to incorporate civil society more and better facilitate their monitoring of the elections, many civil society leaders remains unsatisfied with the steps taken by the IEC thus far.
"The Independent Election Commission has always strove to organize with the responsible institutions on the permanent basis but no the temporary basis, so the role of civil society institutions isn't competitive with the election commission," said Naeem Asghari, the acting chair of the Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA).
"Truly national elections are guaranteed only once all the concerned institutions realize their responsibilities in contributing to the process," said Mohammad Naeem Ayoubzada, the head of the Afghan Transparent Election Foundation."
In response, the IEC has said its committed to facilitate the civil society's role in the elections and promote transparency in election monitoring, which is considered crucial after the fraud-fiasco of the 2009 Presidential vote.
"With regard to larger public participation in the elections, we will strive to seek cooperation of these institutions for monitoring the electoral process," Deputy IEC Chief Abdul Rahman Hotanki said. "The IEC will use all available sources to help civil society institutions to monitor the elections."
The ECC recently conducted its review process in front of civil society activists and members of the media, which was thought to be a positive step after the IEC largely cut out civil society from its original evaluations that resulted in the preliminary list of candidates.