On January.19th.2019, I had the honor to pay the Afghan Presidential palace (Arg) a warm visit upon a generous invitation from Their Excellencies Mr. President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and Mohammad Sarwar Danish Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, to attend an exclusive meeting held at “Delkosha Palace” at 12:00pm.
In this meeting, all the respected fore-mentioned officials deeply acknowledged TEFA for its continued endeavors in the pursuit of a greater Afghanistan and for consolidating democracy within the country, and asked for TEFA’s cooperation and recommendations in bringing about needed electoral reforms. The meeting minutes revolved mainly around the following points:
1. Replacing commissioners of both IEC and ECC
2. Amending the current recruiting mechanism for appointing new commissioners
3. Holding the election commissions accountable for their works
4. TEFA’s report on the 2018 Parliamentary elections and its recommendations on improving the current political conditions
After a profound one hour discussion, we concluded the meeting by reaching a robust concord on various critical issues, and pledged on bilateral cooperation for manifesting electoral reforms in near future. I personally thank the Afghan Government’s leadership for this constructive opportunity to impart information and exchange ideas, which is highly promising for the future of democracy in Afghanistan.