Officials of the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) said on Wednesday that the three-day delay in the Independent Election Commission's (IEC) release of the preliminary list of candidates for the spring elections would affect the work of the ECC, likely putting the completion of the complaints assessment process behind schedule.
On Tuesday, three days after the expected release, the IEC announced the disqualification of 16 Presidential candidates from the list of 26 registered, leaving only 10 still eligible to compete in the spring bid to succeed President Hamid Karzai. Nearly 400 Provincial Council candidates were also cut.
"The delay in the release of the list will affect the work of the Commission and may result in a delay of the announcement expected on November 16," said ECC spokesman Nadir Mohseni referring to the announcement of the final list of candidates scheduled for next month.
Mohseni complained that the IEC did not send the preliminary list over until after it had already been announced to the media on Tuesday.
The ECC had reportedly received over 20 complaints against candidates prior to the field trimming. That number is now said to have reached 35. Although most of the complaints the ECC has received were resolved quickly, officials have said eight were of a more serious nature and would take more time to assess.
Those complaints that were received prior to Tuesday that apply to candidates still in the running will carry over and be evaluated by the ECC along with any complaints it receives through this Thursday, which is when the window for submitting complaints closes.
Since the preliminary list was received three days late, however, the ECC fears the assessment process of those relevant complaints from before the release and any newer ones received since could force the announcement of the final list to be pushed back from November 16.
According to ECC officials, complaints received involving human rights violations will be handed over to courts and investigated. They said the majority of complaints received involved accusations of improprieties in the nomination process, which ended on October 6.
Mohseni warned candidates who made the preliminary list that "if they did not complete the process according to the law, they will be removed from the final list of the Presidential and Provincial Council candidates."
Meanwhile, a number of the Provincial Council candidates who did not make the cut on Tuesday cried foul, and said the IEC was "not fair" in it decision making. Reportedly a number of candidates have visited the commission to investigate why they were disqualified.
"We are not accepting the announcement of the Commission, it didn't make the decision independently or fairly," said Layeeq Shah Zadaran, a Provincial Council hopeful from Logar who was cut on Tuesday.
"The smart youth were removed from the list and the powerful warlords, armed men and uneducated that put pressure on the commission remained," said Zahir Alokozai, a would-be Provincial Council candidate from Kabul.