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'No winners' yet in Afghan prelim vote
Source: Agencies |
September 13, 2009, Sunday
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THE United Nations mission in Afghanistan said yesterday there were "no winners" yet in the country's presidential election, as the Afghan election commission prepared to release full results for the first time.
More than three weeks have passed since the vote, but yesterday's results will only be preliminary. A UN-backed complaints commission is investigating hundreds of fraud allegations, and results won't be certified as final until those investigations are complete.
"There are no winners in this election yet," said Aleem Siddique, a UN spokesman. "Afghanistan's election commission still has to conduct a partial recount from suspect districts.
"The election commission is also required to annul returns from polling stations where there is clear evidence of irregularities, as ordered by the Electoral Complaints Commission. Only after these actions have been taken can any provisional results be finalized," he said.
Allegations of ballot stuffing and phantom polling stations have marred the August 20 election, threatening Afghanistan's political stability at a time of rising Taliban violence and an increased US military presence.
The country's top vote monitoring group, the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan, said in a statement it was "imperative" that Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission - the body overseeing the election - "highlight that the announced results are preliminary" and are subject to decisions by the complaints commission.
The Independent Election Commission, appointed by President Hamid Karzai, scheduled a news conference for 5pm Kabul time, at which it is expected to release the rest of the preliminary results.
So far the commission has counted ballots from 92 percent of the country's polling stations. Those returns show Karzai with 54 percent of the vote, and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah with 28 percent.
The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission on Thursday threw out thousands of ballots from 83 polling stations and ordered recounts in parts of three Afghan provinces.
If enough Karzai votes are ruled invalid, that could push his total below 50 percent and force a two-person runoff.
More than three weeks have passed since the vote, but yesterday's results will only be preliminary. A UN-backed complaints commission is investigating hundreds of fraud allegations, and results won't be certified as final until those investigations are complete.
"There are no winners in this election yet," said Aleem Siddique, a UN spokesman. "Afghanistan's election commission still has to conduct a partial recount from suspect districts.
"The election commission is also required to annul returns from polling stations where there is clear evidence of irregularities, as ordered by the Electoral Complaints Commission. Only after these actions have been taken can any provisional results be finalized," he said.
Allegations of ballot stuffing and phantom polling stations have marred the August 20 election, threatening Afghanistan's political stability at a time of rising Taliban violence and an increased US military presence.
The country's top vote monitoring group, the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan, said in a statement it was "imperative" that Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission - the body overseeing the election - "highlight that the announced results are preliminary" and are subject to decisions by the complaints commission.
The Independent Election Commission, appointed by President Hamid Karzai, scheduled a news conference for 5pm Kabul time, at which it is expected to release the rest of the preliminary results.
So far the commission has counted ballots from 92 percent of the country's polling stations. Those returns show Karzai with 54 percent of the vote, and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah with 28 percent.
The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission on Thursday threw out thousands of ballots from 83 polling stations and ordered recounts in parts of three Afghan provinces.
If enough Karzai votes are ruled invalid, that could push his total below 50 percent and force a two-person runoff.
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