Likely poll contenders may include rebels: IEC

KABUL) on Wednesday indicated likely presidential and provincial council election candidates might include militants.

So far 65 individuals have received information kits on presidential elections and 2,517 on provincial council polls. Only one candidate has so far registered for the presidential election.

As many as 523 candidates, including 58 female, were in the run for provincial council elections, IEC spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor told reporters.

There might be insurgents among the recipients of information kits on the presidential race, he said, adding the documents did not mean candidacy for the position.

He once again asked the relevant institutions to ensure security of IEC offices and employees, observers, advisors and voters during the upcoming elections, slated for April 2014.

In eastern Nuristan province, no one has so far filed nomination papers for the presidential slot. Only three people, including a woman, are in the run for the provincial council, according to the spokesman.

Not a single woman from Maidan Wardak, Paktika, Badghis, Samangan, Daikundi and Badakhshan provinces had filed nomination papers, Noor said. The commission was trying to encourage women to participate in the election process by running for provincial offices, he concluded.

myn

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