KABUL (Pajhwok): Presidential runner Dr. Abdullah Abdullah on Saturday said his team’s estimates indicated that the runoff election result would be better than the previous round.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul at 9pm, five hours after the voting came to an end, the frontrunner suggested he would emerge a clear winner.
He said: “It’s too early to predict the results. It’s the election commission’s job. But on the face of it, the outcome is the same as the first round.”
In the first round, according to the IEC results, Abdullah gained about 45% of the votes cast. His closest rival Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai came in second with 31.5 percent.
Abdullah urged the electoral bodies to look into problems such as shortages of ballot papers in some provinces, violations of relevant laws and fraud by certain individuals.
Commenting on Kabul police chief Gen. Mohammad Zahir’s statement that IEC Secretary President Ziaul Haq Amarkhel was trying to commit fraud, Abdullah called for investigations into the incident.
Zahir said police had seized two vehicles carrying ballot papers out of Sarobi district in compliance with the IEC secretary’s directives — something he called outright fraud.
But Amarkhel Zia dismissed the police chief’s allegation and explained the papers were being taken to address the problem of a ballot shortage in the district.
The presidential hopeful said: “We will respond this time. The election commission is duty-bound to respect people verdict. No one will be allowed to against the will of the people.”
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