Foreign meddling in polls won’t be allowed: NSC

KABUL): The National Security Council (NSC) on Sunday said no foreign country would be allowed to influence the upcoming presidential and provincial council elections, scheduled to be held in May 2014.

At a meeting chaired by President Hamid Karzai, the NSC conferred on the overall situation in the country, including the polls, the strategic cooperation pact with the US and requirements of Afghan security forces. 

Interior Minister Ghulam Mujtaba Patang presented the participants a strategy for improving the ministry’s efficiency, a statement from the Presidential Palace said. He also highlighted the problems created by interference from lawmakers.

The minister complained that he had been summoned 32 times by the Wolesi Jirga during the past year. Over the last four months, the minister said, MPs had inundated him with 15,200 applications.

According to the statement, the NSC resolved: “Conducting elections is Afghanistan’s internal issue. No foreign country can engineer the process.” It promised to organise free, fair and transparent elections.

Any strategic pact with the US, while guaranteeing peace and ending the war in Afghanistan, must have the support of the Afghan people, the council stressed.

pr/mud

Visits: 2