Taliban dissolve commission to organize and oversee elections in the country

They assure that they have none “no need”. The Taliban have dissolved the Independent Election Commission (IEC) of Afghanistan, created under the previous regime and responsible for organizing the elections, a spokesperson for the Islamic regime announced on Saturday (December 25th). This announcement follows the dissolution, in the week, of the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) and of two ministries, one for Peace and one for Parliamentary Affairs. “For now, we don’t need these two ministries and commissions to exist and function. If the need arises, the Islamic Emirate [le nom donné par les talibans à leur régime] could restore them “, said a deputy Taliban spokesperson.

The IEC was created in 2006, a few years after the fall of the previous Taliban regime (1996-2001). Its role was to organize and supervise the elections. As such, the IEC and its employees had regularly been targeted by attacks carried out by the Taliban.

“If this organization does not exist, I am 100% sure that Afghanistan’s problems will never be solved because there will be no elections,” reacted the one who led the IEC until the fall of the previous regime. Another senior official of the previous regime, Halim Fidai, considered that this decision showed that “the Taliban have not changed and they do not believe in democracy.” “They take power through bullets and not through the ballot box”, he added.

The Taliban seized power on August 15, overthrowing the previous government backed by the United States and its allies as foreign troops completed their hasty withdrawal from the country after two decades of presence. Shortly after taking power, the Taliban had already replaced the Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the dreaded Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.