Karzai stresses fair probe into candidates’ complaints

KABUL): Presidential runner Dr Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and his campaign managers on Friday exchanged views with President Hamid Karzai on the current electoral process and the upcoming tribal forum on a security deal with the US.

Satisfied with the ongoing process of complaint hearings by the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC), Karzai acknowledged candidates’ right to challenge the exclusion of their names from the preliminary list.

Objections from the runners rejected by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) should be addressed in their presence in a fair, transparent and legal manner, Karzai stressed.

In a statement from his office, Karzai once again asserted his political neutrality and said he did not support any specific presidential wannabe. By the same token, he urged the runners to cooperate with the IEC in conducting inclusive and credible polls.

He invited Ahmadzai and his campaign team to participate in the consultative Loya Jirga, scheduled to be held later in the month, on the bilateral security agreement (BSA) with the United States of America.

A former finance minister, Dr. Ahmadzai welcomed a recent presidential statement that holding a fair election on schedule was vital to Afghanistan‘s future. He hoped the presidency would follow up on the decree warning government officials against meddling in the elections.

Transparent elections, whose outcome is legitimate and acceptable to all Afghans, will lead to stability and national reconciliation in the country, according to Ahmadzai.

Members of his campaign team would actively attend the consultative jirga, with a clear agenda of debating the security pact with the US, he assured the president.

pr/mud

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