Afghan election officials delay partial results until Sunday
Political leaders have mounted pressure on the IEC to postpone announcement.
Afghan men of all ages vote at a polling station in Mazar-i-Sharif . PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Afghan elections officials, who had earlier scheduled Saturday as the day to announce partial results of the April 5 presidential election, delayed it for another day, a senior official said.
Spokesman for the Independent Election Commission, Noor Muhammad Noor, said earlier that 80 per cent of the ballot papers have arrived in capital Kabul from some provinces and that partial results would be declared on Saturday.
However, the IEC could not declare the result despite the day-long discussions and decided to announce the results on Sunday at 3pm local time, an official told The Express Tribune by phone from Kabul.
He said that the result of nearly 10 per cent votes from 27 provinces of the total 34 will be declared on Sunday.
Election officials have admitted that some political leaders have mounted pressure on the IEC to postpone the results until more of the count is complete as only 10 per cent vote could show a big margin of one candidate on another.
The delay has raised some concerns among the people who were anxiously awaiting the partial results, correspondents in Kabul said.
The IEC will announce primary results on April 24, with final results scheduled for May 14.
The commission says nearly seven million people, including 35 per cent women, out of the 13 million eligible voters had cast votes in the April 5 landmark election despite serious security challenges. Afghanistan‘s population is estimated at 30 million.
Two potential presidential hopefuls, Dr Ashraf Ghani and Dr Abdullah Abdullah, claim the lead in the count so far. Zalmai Rassoul, who was earlier also thought to be among the front-runners, is seen far behind. Rassoul, who had served as foreign minister and national security adviser to President Karzai, was considered as his choice.
Meanwhile, the Afghan National Assembly on Saturday asked the electoral commissions to limit fraud and conclude election results fairly and neutrally.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 13th, 2014.
Afghan elections officials, who had earlier scheduled Saturday as the day to announce partial results of the April 5 presidential election, delayed it for another day, a senior official said.
Spokesman for the Independent Election Commission, Noor Muhammad Noor, said earlier that 80 per cent of the ballot papers have arrived in capital Kabul from some provinces and that partial results would be declared on Saturday.
However, the IEC could not declare the result despite the day-long discussions and decided to announce the results on Sunday at 3pm local time, an official told The Express Tribune by phone from Kabul.
He said that the result of nearly 10 per cent votes from 27 provinces of the total 34 will be declared on Sunday.
Election officials have admitted that some political leaders have mounted pressure on the IEC to postpone the results until more of the count is complete as only 10 per cent vote could show a big margin of one candidate on another.
The delay has raised some concerns among the people who were anxiously awaiting the partial results, correspondents in Kabul said.
The IEC will announce primary results on April 24, with final results scheduled for May 14.
The commission says nearly seven million people, including 35 per cent women, out of the 13 million eligible voters had cast votes in the April 5 landmark election despite serious security challenges. Afghanistan‘s population is estimated at 30 million.
Two potential presidential hopefuls, Dr Ashraf Ghani and Dr Abdullah Abdullah, claim the lead in the count so far. Zalmai Rassoul, who was earlier also thought to be among the front-runners, is seen far behind. Rassoul, who had served as foreign minister and national security adviser to President Karzai, was considered as his choice.
Meanwhile, the Afghan National Assembly on Saturday asked the electoral commissions to limit fraud and conclude election results fairly and neutrally.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 13th, 2014.