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The second year of the extended tenure and the seventh legislative year of the Afghan Parliament\u2019s 16th term commenced on March 6, 2017. In a meeting held in this regard, the Speaker of Wolesi Jirga (the lower house of the Afghan Parliament) Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi demanded from President Ghani to hold fair and transparent parliamentary and district councils elections. Criticizing the continuation acting ministers with their jobs, he said, \u201cThe continuation of the work by acting ministers decreases the level of accountability and negatively affects the affairs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Emphasizing on holding elections, President Ghani pointed out that the preparations for Parliamentary elections were held and most of the obstacles in the way of holding elections were eliminated. The Afghan President, seeking to revive public confidence in the election process, stressed on preventing the intervention of the government officials in the election process and said,\u201d Neither I intend to intervene in the election nor will I allow anyone else to do so.\u201d [1]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n The extension of the Wolesi Jirga\u2019s term, the Jirga\u2019s activities in the past year and the existing problems in the way of Parliamentary elections are issues that are analyzed here.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Extension of Wolesi Jirga\u2019s term<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The second paragraph of the 83rd article of the Afghan constitution states that \u201cThe working term of the Wolesi Jirga shall terminate, after the disclosure of the election results, on 1st<\/sup> Saratan (the solar month) of the fifth year and the new Parliament shall commence work.\u201d According to this provision of the Afghan constitution, the current Wolesi Jirga must have ended its work at the end of the Jawza of the 1394 (solar month and year). In the third paragraph of the same article, the constitution predicts that \u201d The elections, to elect new members for Wolesi Jirga, shall be held 30 to 60 days prior to the expiration date of its term.\u201d [2]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n The 2014 election crisis and later-on differences between the leaders of the National Unity Government (NUG) over the implementation of the NUG political deal, which necessitated the election reforms, alongside with the worst security and financial situations delayed the Parliamentary elections. Therefore, issuing a statement, the Afghan president extended the tenure of the parliament until the announcement of the next elections\u2019 results. [3]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Extension of the Afghan Parliament\u2019s tenure sparked some reactions as well. Some of the Parliament members, legal experts, and the speaker of the Meshrano Jirga (the upper house of the Afghan Parliament) termed it illegal. But on the contrary, some other Parliament members welcomed this act saying that with the termination of the Parliaments term, the government would have lost one of the three branches and the continuation of the government\u2019s work without the legislation and observation role of the Parliament would have harmed the democratic process. But still, after one year, the Afghan government has not been able to hold the Parliamentary elections and, after the termination of its legal term, the Jirga commenced its second year.<\/span><\/p>\n The Presidential Palace has extended the current Parliaments term until the announcement of the results of the next parliamentary elections and since the date of the elections is not announced yet the parliament\u2019s working term is extended until an unknown time.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The first year of extended period<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 1395 was the first year of the Parliament\u2019s extended term. According to the Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan (FEFA), in 1395, Wolesi Jirga had held 108 general sessions, 21 summon meeting, 15 hearing sessions, six impeachment sessions, three secret, and 55 regular sessions.<\/span><\/p>\n 41 legal documents including legislative acts and decrees and 38 international agreements were sent to the parliament in 1395 to be either amended or approved, 37 of which are approved and three are rejected. Moreover, Wolesi Jirga has summoned 22 ministers of the executive branch and has dismissed 7 of them.<\/span><\/p>\n FEFA\u2019s finding shows that the Afghan parliament had performed a better job, compared to the previous years, in areas of monitoring and legislation but has had little achievements in representing the people.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Parliamentary elections and Challenges <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The former head of the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced on 18 January 2016 that the parliamentary election would be held on 15 October 2016. But the announcement sparked some opposition. The Afghan Chief Executive kept insisting that the elections had to be held by the new commission because the leaders of the NUG had reached an agreement to bring electoral reforms before holding the parliamentary elections.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition, releasing a statement, FEFA also criticized the announcement of the election\u2019s schedule before the electoral reforms and without the coordination between the government and the sponsors. The Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan, on the other hand, also termed the announcement of the date of the elections infeasible and the Afghanistan Protection and Stability Council, in the opposition side of the Afghan government, announced that it would not participate in any elections unless electoral reforms are brought.<\/span><\/p>\n Although the exact date of the parliamentary elections is not announced yet, the Presidential Palace has said that the Afghan leaders have reached a consensus over holding the election in 2017. But still, despite some electoral reforms and the creation of the new electoral commissions, there are challenges and obstacles in the way of holding these elections:<\/span><\/p>\n Security: <\/strong>the worsened security situation in the country is a major challenge in the way of holding the upcoming parliamentary elections. According to a report of Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), in 2016, the armed opposition of the Afghan government either controlled or had influence over 33 districts in 16 provinces of the country and war continued in many others.[4]<\/a> In the last months of 1395 (solar year), the ISIL has also increased its activities in the country, and it is said that the upcoming solar year would be a challenging year for the Afghan government which would for sure affect holding the parliamentary elections.<\/span><\/p>\n Budget:<\/strong> Although the Afghan government has announced that the necessary budget to hold the Parliamentary and district council election is $120m, only $30m of which will be provided by the Afghan government and the remaining have to be funded by the international community. In this regard, however, the donor countries have pledged to help, but they stress on the proper expenditure of this money. Currently, the financial issue is also a major challenge because still, corruption is a major problem in the Afghan government.<\/span><\/p>\n Voting cards and constituencies: <\/strong>another challenge in holding the parliamentary elections is the old voting cards and the mechanism of preparing the list of voters. Although the government has announced to start the distribution of electronic identity card (tazkeras) until the next week, certainly, even until the upcoming several months, the Afghan government will not be able to distribute electronic ID card to all the people. In the meanwhile, according to IEC deputy, they are trying to use the electronic or biometric system in this election. Although, using electronic system would, to a great extent, put a positive impact on the transparency in the elections; but this system, on the one hand, needs more expenditure and, on the other hand, the utilization of such system would be difficult in remote areas of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n The way the constituencies and polling centers have to be determined is another issue that can question the transparency of the elections. Security challenges and lack of population survey has also made it hard to determine constituencies and appoint one chair for each constituency.<\/span><\/p>\n The end<\/span><\/p>\n [2]<\/a> The 83th article of the Afghan constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n [3]<\/a> BBC Persian: http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/persian\/afghanistan\/2015\/06\/150620_k02_afghan_parliament_session<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n[1]<\/a> Presidential Palace, the Afghan President\u2019s speech: http:\/\/president.gov.af\/fa\/news\/298550<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n