The newly elected members of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Saturday appointed Mohammad Yousuf Nuristani as the new chief of the IEC.

The head, deputy head and Secretariat of the IEC were chosen from among the nine newly appointed Commissioners by means of voting. In the voting process, Abdul Rahman Hotaki got six votes and was appointed as the deputy head; Gulalai Achekzai was elected as the Secretariat of the IEC.

"As per Article 5 of the Law on Governing of the IEC, the new members of the IEC today (Saturday) held their first meeting and elected the chief, deputy chief and the Secretariat of the Commission," Sarir Ahmad Barmak, a member of the IEC told TOLOnews.

The new chief of the IEC, aged 46 years, finished his education from the US and hails from Nuristan province. He possesses an American citizenship as well. Mr. Nuristani had previously served as the Agriculture and Irrigation Minister in 2002, President Karzai's Advisor during the transition period, Deputy Defence Minister in 2006, the Governor of Herat in 2009 and also worked as a consultant for the US Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Abdul Rahman Hotaki, the deputy head of the IEC is a Pashton and hails from Kabul province. Mr. Hotaki previously worked for several civil society organizations and served as the deputy head at the UMEF University in Kabul.

Ms. Achekzai the Secretariat of the IEC is from Kandahar. She graduated from Sharia Faculty and holds a Masters Degree in Psychology.