Wolesi Jirga polls kicks off in Kandahar after a week delay

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): The Independent Election Commission (IEC) chairman Abdul Baday Sayyad has said the commission was committed transparent conduct of Wolesi Jirga elections in southern Kandahar province.

Voters have arrived in front of polling centers at 7:00 am on Saturday morning and waiting in long queues to cast their ballots.

A resident of the city complained that people arrived to the polling stations in time but voting process was not yet started.

On Friday evening, Sayyad during his trip to Kandahar province expressed condolences to the people over the deadly attack that postponed the election for a week.

The delay in voting was the result of the assassination of Kandahar Police chief by Taliban insurgents two days before the much delayed elections.

He called on people to widely participate in the polls and gave a tit-for-tat respond to the killers of former Gen. Abdul Raziq and NDS director Gen. Momin Hussainkhel.

However, tight security has been put in place ahead of polls in Kandahar province. IEC chairman said the commission was committed to transparent elections and urged security forces for full cooperation.

A total of 567,000 people have registered as voters in Kandahar. Of them, 73,000 are women, according to local election officials.

As many as 112 people, including 12 women, from Kandahar are in the electoral fray. The voting process will be held in 173 polling centers.