Afghan Presidential Candidate Abdullah Abdullah shows his inked finger as he casts his vote at a local polling station in Kabul on April 5, 2014. PHOTO: AFP
KABUL: Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah is leading his closest rival Ashraf Ghani in the Afghan presidential election, the country's Independent Election Commission (IEC) said Sunday.
"Today we announce the partial results of 26 provinces with 10 percent of votes counted, these include (provinces) in the north, south, east, west and Kabul," said Yousuf Nuristani, the IEC chief.
"With 500,000 votes from 26 provinces Dr Abdullah is leading with 41.9 percent; Dr Ashraf Ghani has 37.6 percent and is in second; and Zalmai Rassoul has 9.8 percent in third position."
A run-off election between the two leading candidates will be triggered if no single candidate gains more than 50 percent of the vote when the final results are announced in late May.
Of the eight provinces for which results have not been announced, two are in the north (Badakhshan and Baghlan), two in the east (Khost and Paktia), two in the south (Ghazni and Wardak), and one in the south-west (Ghor).
Abdullah, who was born to an ethnic Pashtun father and a Tajik mother, is more associated with the northern Tajiks.
More than seven million people defied bad weather and Taliban threats of violence to vote in Saturday's first round of the election, earning praise from world leaders.
Ahead of the vote there were fears that a repeat of the massive fraud which blighted Karzai's re-election in 2009 would undermine the winner's legitimacy at a testing time for the war-torn country.
COMMENTS (14)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah is a decent man and has never been known to be corrupt or thankless like Mr. Hamid Karzai. His election victory will be a good omen for Afghanistan, and a welcome change as far as Pakistan is concerned. It is better to deal with someone whose views are well-known instead of a hypocrite like Mr. Karzai. Pakistan should support Dr. Abdullah Abdullah as it is a misconception that he holds any animosity towards Pakistan.
to everyone thinking a bit of these fake elections is valid.. good luck!
It is a laughing matter that some are terming Dr. Abdullah a non Pushtun even when his father was a Pushtun but a Tajik mother. It is fine to call him Tajik due to his mother. However, when Bilawal uses his mother's last name these same people go berserk and term him only Zardari. The variable and double standards of some. It does not matter who Dr. Abdullah was but is he qualified and popular among the voters of Afghanistan?
@Ch. Allah Daad:
But both leading candidates are Pashtun.
Afghani and Pakistani qoum has one thing definitely in common ... they are masters in re electing spent "kartoos" again and again ...
He apparently has a lot of baggage, both political and personal. Check out this blog for details: http://afghanfactsheet.blogspot.com
@Chachoo and @Fiz Wasn't he right in doing so? Aren't we responsible for the destruction of their motherland? When will we realize the mistakes we have made in the past? And besides why should we be worried about anyone being friends with India?
@Chachoo: Both leading candidates are better than Hamid Karzai or any Afghan Pashtun.
@ fiz he's not pro india but pro Afghanistan. When their country and citizen are attacked by non state actors emanating from your territories you are bound to be blamed. With or without india being in the equation. Instead of being skeptical address their issue of cross border terrorism as well as that of other neighbouring countries surrounding you. That would help built trust in relationship between all iran india afganistan.
Last elections, Dr. Abdullah gave a tough fight to Hamid Karzai. He deserves to be president this time. But all the top contenders are equally good and qualified to lead Afghanistan to its better future. I hope the elections dont go in the second round.
Congratulations Dr Abdullah! All the best from one doc to another. We know you are a good man. Pray to God that you succeed in all your missions. You've worked hard all your life. But more hard work awaits you.
@Fiz: @Chachoo:
Pakistan's security establishment is said to favor Dr. Abdullah. He isn't a nationalist so it'll be much easy to deal with him.
He once used to be Foreign Minister of Afghanistan and was quite vocal in his animosity towards us. He maintains a good relationship with India. So in general we can say no change in the stance of Afghanistan vis a vis Pakistan.
All i know that he is a bad omen for Pakistan. He is known to blame Pakistan in every matter and i am sure in the future even if some bee will stung any Afghan then he will make Pakistani connection with the bee as well.