The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said on Saturday that the Media Commission of the IEC would be responsible for overseeing candidates' campaigns in addition to media programs surrounding the elections.
As Presidential campaigns beginning on February 2 near, the IEC has announced preparations for campaign oversight. According to the IEC, if any of the candidates act against the laws, principles and methods of the elections, they will be penalized.
"The Media Commission of the IEC is responsible for overseeing candidate campaigns in the media and outside the media," IEC spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor said. "The plan is that from 2nd February to April 2nd 2014, Presidential candidates can do their campaigns, and their campaigns will end 48 hours prior to the start of the elections."
Meanwhile, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) has discussed its plans for financial oversight of the candidates and their expenditures on the campaign trail.
According to the Election Law, Presidential candidates cannot spend over 10 million AFN and Provincial Council candidates over 500,000 AFN during their campaigns.
"A specific amount has been designated for candidates and they can't exceed spending that amount, but there are instances and excuses when someone claims that he hasn't made the expenses, and in those cases, the law is not very clear," ECC Secretariat Chief Nader Mohseni said.
According to Election laws, Presidential Candidates campaigns will start on February 2nd, and will last till last till April 2nd. Provincial council candidates can start their campaigns from March 4th to April 2nd.
In addition to financial and broader behavioral overisght, the IEC discussed security precautions for the campaign season this week as well. The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has been charged with keeping the Presidential candidates safe as they set out to travel the country, which has seen a wave of deadly Taliban attacks in recent weeks.