MAZAR-I-SHARIF (SW) – At least two thousand protesters took to the streets in Mazar-e-Sharif on Tuesday demanding recount of the vote cast in the Wolesi Jirga (lower house of the parliament) polls.
The protesters first marched through the streets around the Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi Airport, and later set-up a protest camp in front of the Independent Election Commission office in the city.
Mohammad Abda, one of the protesting WJ candidates, said on the occasion he has documented proof to back his claims of widespread rigging in the polls. He demanded the votes should be recounted in front of the international observers.
Wakeel Mateen, another protesting candidate, said the 800 complaints lodged in the province related to the electoral process should be addressed. Najib Paikan, another candidate, said this is not the first time the electoral commission has expressed disrespect towards the peoples’ will.
Meanwhile, Ezatullah Arman, provincial head of the IEC in Balkh, said after hearing out the protesters that the votes from 231 polling stations would indeed be recounted. He vowed up to 97.5 per cent votes counted in the province were with biometric verification, and efforts are underway to remove the rest which are not verified.
A similar protest demonstration was held in the province last week as well.
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