As violence rages across Afghanistan, preparations for crucial presidential elections take shape amid sweeping election law changes | Democracy

Afghan MPs pass election watchdog bill

Afghan lawmakers have passed a bill to give the country’s controversial electoral complaints watchdog more power and independence for the upcoming elections, officials said Monday. The law, delayed for months in parliament, also defines the role and structure of the country’s election commission, MP Naqibullah Fayeq told AFP.

“They have approved the existence of the ECC (Electoral Complaints Commission), but with no foreign members,” he said, adding that the commission will have five members who will all be Afghans.

Last year, the Afghan government decided to scrap the UN-backed ECC, which investigates complaints related to elections, in favour of a tribunal that could give President Hamid Karzai more control over polls.