Thanks IEC

Oh. The IEC.  We got a contract to produce from public service announcements for radio broadcast about the upcoming Wolosi Jirga.  The parliamentary elections.  The messages were to deal with the nomination and complaints period.  The IEC set up a phone line where listeners could call in and voice their complaints.  Given all the controversy surrounding the last election, this was an important step forward.  We were slated to broadcast this message 160 times across 30 different stations nationwide.  Well.  After 48 broadcasts, the IEC called us and asked us to stop broadcasting.  Why?  Because they were getting TOO MANY COMPLAINTS!  What in the fuck did they expect?  Really?  That no one would call?  Uh? If I recall correctly, the last election was frought with accusations of vote-rigging and intimidation.  People are angry and they have lost faith in the process and the first thing that is initiated in an effort to combat this gets sacked before it even has a chance.  Since the broadcasts were only set to occur over the course of a month, we were never able to make up the missed ones.  Frankly, I hope that people rape, riot and pillage.

On another note, the picture below is of the Afghan parliament from way back in the day (about 79 years ago), where phone lines and complaint periods were probably non-existant.