Taliban Dissolve Independent Election Commission, Restrict Women's Long-Distance Trips Without Male Escort

Calling them "unnecessary institutions" Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban-run government said if there is a need in the future, the Taliban government can revive them.

A Taliban fighter checks the document of a motorist at a checkpoint in Kabul on December 23, 2021. | Getty

New Delhi: In the latest move, the Taliban has dissolved two Afghanistan election commissions and state ministries for peace and parliamentarian affairs on Sunday.

Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban-run government said the country’s Independent Election Commission and Electoral Complaint Commission have been dissolved, as per a report by AP.

Why did the Taliban dissolve such important institutions?

Calling them "unnecessary institutions for the current situation in Afghanistan", Karimi said if there is a need for the commissions in the future, the Taliban government can revive them.

The Taliban government is still not recoginsed by many nations as the international community is waiting before extending formal recognition to the new regime.

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There are concerns that the Taliban could impose a similarly harsh regime as when they were in power 20 years ago despite their assurances.

Both election commissions were mandated to administer and supervise all types of elections in the country, including presidential, parliamentary and provincial council elections.

Karimi said the Taliban also dissolved the Ministry for Peace and the Ministry of Parliamentarian Affairs. The ministries were dissolved citing they were unnecessary ministries in the government’s current structure.

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Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Taliban authorities said on Sunday that women seeking to travel long distances should not be offered road transport unless they are accompanied by a close male relative, according to AFP news.

"Women travelling for more than 45 miles (72 kilometres) should not be offered a ride if they are not accompanied by a close family member," ministry spokesman Sadeq Akif Muhajir said stressing that the escort must be a close male relative.

The guidance issued by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice called on vehicle owners to refuse rides to women not wearing headscarves.

The move comes after the Taliban banned many women in public-sector roles from returning to work since their return to power, and as girls remain largely cut off from state secondary schooling.

It also comes despite the hardline Islamists seeking to project a moderate image internationally in a bid to restore aid suspended when the previous government imploded during the final stages of a US military withdrawal.