KABUL (SW) – The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Saturday organized a meeting with candidates and civil society representatives on key electoral concerns.
The main concerns addressed at today’s meeting included the commission's handling of hundreds of thousands of alleged void votes and the missing biometric devises.
Hanif Daneshyar, an IEC commissioner, said that biometric registered votes out of time went problematic because of the lack of software. He said anyone found guilty in this connection, including the German manufacturer, Dermalog, or anyone else would be dealt with legally.
Asadullah Saadati, a proposed deputy president for the Stability and Partnership team led by Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, accused the IEC of violating the law and procedures for advancing the ballot count. He warned altering the genuine outcome is a crime.
His team claimed the meeting's framework was unbalanced and left the meeting in protest.
Davood Soltanzoy of the rival State Builder team led by President Ashraf Ghani, accused Abdullah’s team of being a bully and called on the IEC and the government to respond to the shutdown of seven provincial election offices.
Youssef Rashid, executive director of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan, said the commission's meeting was not properly managed and organized and the protesters were not given enough opportunity to protest.
He said a way out should be sought as the commission and candidates are in confrontation.
Although the meeting was over without a resolution, the IEC head, Hava Alam Nuristani, said the fate of preliminary results will soon become clear.
ENDS
