Afghan elections: Abdullah-Ghani run-off May 28
In the first round Abdullah won 44.9 per cent of the vote, followed by Ghani with 31.5 per cent.
Dr Abdullah Abdullah (R) and close rival Dr Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (L). PHOTO: AFP/FILE
KABUL:
Afghanistan will head into a second round of polls after no candidate secured 50 per cent of the votes in the April 5 presidential election, the Afghan election commission announced Saturday.
The head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani gave the breakdown of the partial results.
Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah is in the lead with 44.9 per cent of the votes, closely followed by former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani with 31.5 per cent.
The two leading candidates will go to run-off elections rather than having talks about a coalition government.
The preliminary results are due to be finalized on May 14 after investigations into fraud complaints.
Candidates hit out at results
Fazal Oriya, Abdullah's spokesperson, told the media that "the results announced by the IEC are unacceptable for us."
Ghani's spokesperson, Dr Farooqi, also said that thousands of fraudulent votes were included in the final preliminary result which affected the statistics.
After fraud allegations were made in regard to the votes, the IEC delayed the date of the announcement of the preliminary results (originally scheduled April 24) to ensure the results are free of suspect votes.
Afghanistan will head into a second round of polls after no candidate secured 50 per cent of the votes in the April 5 presidential election, the Afghan election commission announced Saturday.
The head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani gave the breakdown of the partial results.
Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah is in the lead with 44.9 per cent of the votes, closely followed by former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani with 31.5 per cent.
The two leading candidates will go to run-off elections rather than having talks about a coalition government.
The preliminary results are due to be finalized on May 14 after investigations into fraud complaints.
Candidates hit out at results
Fazal Oriya, Abdullah's spokesperson, told the media that "the results announced by the IEC are unacceptable for us."
Ghani's spokesperson, Dr Farooqi, also said that thousands of fraudulent votes were included in the final preliminary result which affected the statistics.
After fraud allegations were made in regard to the votes, the IEC delayed the date of the announcement of the preliminary results (originally scheduled April 24) to ensure the results are free of suspect votes.