Campaign

KABUL (PAN): President Hamid Karzai's elder brother and presidential candidate Abdul Qayyum Karzai on Sunday promised to preserve the gains made over the past decade and pursue the current government’s incomplete jobs.

KABUL (Pajhwok): A day after his two election campaigners were gunned down in western Herat province, presidential contender Dr. Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday said he would enforce laws across-the-board and do away with insecurity and administrative corruption if elected in the April elections.
Unknown gunmen shot dead two officials of Abdullah’s campaign office in Herat City as they came out of the office.

KAUBL (Pajhwok): Campaigners for some presidential candidates on Sunday, the day of election campaign launch, defied warnings from the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) against erecting billboards and gluing posters in prohibited areas.
The electioneering formally kicked off on Sunday and would continue for two months.

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Fikr Aw Amal Jirga, a party led by ex-interior minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, on Wednesday announced its support to leading presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.
At a gathering of the Jirga, representing around 2000 influential figures, Jalali slammed the misuse of foreign aid over the past 12 years.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Amid security concerns, a two-month long presidential electioneering campaign is set to begin on Sunday, with 11 candidates vying to replace the incumbent Hamid Karzai.
Presidential candidates are said to be planning to hold large political gatherings in Kabul and provinces.
But representatives of some hopefuls say they are concerned about the security situation; particularly when the candidates travel to provinces as part of their campaign.

KABUL (PAN): Thirty likely presidential candidates, including important political figures, were issued with information kits on next year’s polls, an Independent Election Commission (IEC) official said on Sunday.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (APN): Tribal elders from the northern zone met held a traditional assembly in Mazar-i-Sharif to discuss possible problems in the lead-up to next year’s presidential and provincial council elections.
Arranged by the People’s Traditional Reform Jirga, the gathering was attended by elders, influential figures and youth from Balkh, Faryab, Sar-i-Pul and Jawzjan provinces. The participants asked the government to pay due attention to election security.

HERAT CITY (PAN): Opposition leader Dr. Abdullah Abdullah on Saturday said the Karzai administration lacked political will to hold fair and free presidential elections taking place next year. The Afghanistan National Front leader told a press conference in western Herat province the government had no intention to ensure transparent elections, claiming some candidates used government machinery for their political campaigns.

KABUL (PAN): A senior leader of the National Collation of Afghanistan (NCA) on Friday asked President Hamid Karzai to reject proposals aimed at delaying next year’s elections.
Karzai should not heed flawed suggestions for the continuity of the present set-up and setting back the presidential and provincial council polls, Mohammad Yunus Qanuni said.