A joint civil society group has protested against the appointment of commissioners for the Anti-Corruption Commission. The group calls the appointment of commissioners by the government illegal.
Civic institutions have called on the government to abolish the Anti-Corruption Commission and to proceed with the formation and selection of commissioners in accordance with the law to be approved by the National Assembly. They have accused the government of violating the Anti-Corruption Law by setting up an anti-corruption commission.
The groups also claimed that the government’s decision to expel them from the selection process is contrary to Article 9 of the Anti-Corruption Law.
Sayed EKram Afzali, Executive Director of Integrity Watch and one of the group representatives, in a press conference on Tuesday stated that the government had taken six years to set up an anti-corruption commission.
He said the groups never let the government establish a politically motivated commission and by expelling civil society organizations from the selection process, the government has established the commission “illegally”.
Afzali added that political institutions are less effective in fighting corruption as they can use such institutions for vested interests.
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani established the Anti-Corruption Commission on November 12 with five members, comprising three men and two women namely Homayoun Hamid, Maryam Zormati, Abdul Qayyum Nezami, Seyed Mohammad Hashemi and Farrokh Leghah.
