KABUL (Pajhwok): The ‘Stability and Partnership’ electoral team on Tuesday said it would not accept the presidential election result until the vote recount and audit process was re-launched in 27 provinces.
Mohammad Younis Nawandish, a member of the Stability and Partnership electoral team, told media persons at the IEC hall that the vote recount and audit process in 27 provinces had been completed without their and some electoral teams’ observers’ presence and should be conducted again.
Nawandish said, “As long as the vote recount and audit process in the 27 provinces does not take place in presence of our observers, the presidential election result will not be acceptable to us.”
Three days back Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the Stability and Partnership electoral team, leader asked his supporters to allow the IEC to complete the vote recount and audit process in the remaining seven provinces.
The IEC said the vote recount process has been completed in three of the seven provinces.
The commission said preliminary results from the presidential election would be announced later this week.
The recount of ballots is in progress in Jawzjan, Faryab, Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, Sar-i-Pul and Panjsher.
IEC secretary Habib Rahman Nang tweeted the ballot recount was over in Jawzjan, Panjsher and Sar-i-Pul.
But Abdul Qadir Hotkhel, a member of the ‘State Builder’ electoral team, said Dr. Abdullah’s team was trying to hostage the election process by making such excuses
He urged the IEC to complete its job based on the law and allow no one to hostage the process.
Sayed Ismatullah Mal, IEC deputy director, said the vote recount and audit process had been completed in 27 provinces.
He said, “We are waiting for completion of vote recount and audit process in the seven provinces. Once the vote audit is done, we are going to announce the result.”
IEC secretary Habib Rahman Nang said vote recount and audit process had been completed in Punjshir and result sheets of Sar-i-Pul and Jawzjan would also arrive at the end of the today.
He said the vote recount and audit process would be completed within the next four days.
Earlier the IEC had given October 19 the date for announcement of preliminary result while November 7 for announcement of final result of the presidential election.
Presidential election was held on September 28. But due to some technical issues and problems during separation of clean and fraudulent votes, the IEC could not announce the result on its due date.
On October 27, the IEC said that primary result of the presidential election would be announced on November 14, but the commission again delayed it for an indefinite time.
The IEC has audited and recounted votes of a number of polling stations belonged to 27 out of total 34 provinces of the country. However, a number of presidential tickets including Stability and Partnership led by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah boycotted the process.
pk/ma
