Herat Provincial Council Elections

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Over a hundred residents of western Herat province on Tuesday condemned recent incidents of poisoning of students and teachers, seeking the arrest of those involved in the crime.
More than 800 students, including girls, were poisoned last week in a series of poisoning incidents at different schools of Injil and Guzra districts, as well the provincial capital.

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Lack of access to modern security facilities and coordination among security forces were main reasons behind dramatic surge in insecurity in western Herat province, an official said on Tuesday.
Abdul Rahman Pedram, security and districts committee head in Herat provincial council, expressed these views in an interview with Pajhwok Afghan News.

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Secretary of the provincial council has alleged that some members of the council in western Herat province use force and extra-legal measures in order to resolve problems of the residents.
Sakina Hussaini told Pajhwok Afghan News use of force by some members was a major a major hurdle in their work which caused residents to have conflicting views regarding the council.

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Herat provincial council members on Saturday said the law and order situation has significantly improved in recent weeks.
Speaking at a meeting on the security situation, the provincial council head said four month back Herat used to witness violent incidents on a daily basis.
But the overall situation had improved lately, Kamran Ali Rezaee noted, praising acting police chief Maj. Gen. Abdul Majid Rozi’s performance.

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday fire the governor of western Herat province, directing the deputy governor to assume charge.
In a decree, the president removed Fazlullah Wahidi as governor after a delegation presented him with a report on the current wave of violence in Herat.
Parliamentarian Farhad Majidi, part of the team, told Pajhwok Afghan News they had a meeting with Ghani today. He said the presidential action was based on the report. He added deputy Governor Asiluddin Jame was appointed as acting governor.

KABUL (Pajhwok): The newly-elected provincial council (PC) members of western Herat province were sworn-in on Thursday after weeks of protests by losing candidates, officials said.
The oath-taking ceremony took place in the provincial human rights department attended by over 200 people.
Acting Herat Governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi while addressing the new PC members, said their first commitment should be to serve the masses.

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Supporters of failed provincial council candidates on Sunday staged a fresh protest demonstration in western Herat province, vowing not to allow those involved in fraud to enter the provincial council office.

The rally was carried out at a time when the newly-elected PC members were voting to elect their administrative board inside the provincial Independent Election Commission (IEC) office in Herat City.

The angry protesters chanted slogans like “death to IEC” “we want justice” and warned of continuing their protests until their demands were met.

HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Resuming their protest against the electoral bodies, losing provincial council candidates and their supporters on Wednesday erected tents in front of the governor’s office in western Herat province.

The protestors accused the two electoral commissions of committing fraud during the April elections and warned that they would not let the winners to be sworn-in unless their voices were heard.

They called for a thorough investigation into fraud allegations, otherwise they would continue their protest.

KABUL/MAIDAN SHAHR (Pajhwok): A provincial council (PC) candidate was gunned down along with his two sons by unknown assailants in western Herat province late on Monday, police said. Elsewhere, insurgents killed a 70-year-old mother of a local policeman in central Maidan Wardak province.