KABUL – The Taliban administration of Afghanistan has dissolved the country’s election commission, a panel responsible for holding polls during the previous Western-backed government, announced a spokesman for the organisation on Saturday.
“There is no need for these commissions to exist and operate,” Al Jazeera quoted spokesman Bilal Karimi as saying. He was referring to the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission.
“If we ever feel a need, the Islamic Emirate will revive these commissions.”
The Taliban took control of the country in mid-August as the former President Ashraf Ghani’s government collapsed following the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces after twenty years of war.
The election commission had been established in 2006 and it was mandated to supervise all elections in the country.
The Taliban have already closed the former administration’s ministry of women’s affairs and replaced it with the ministry for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice.
Taliban govt dismisses hundreds of members in ‘clean the ranks’ drive
