Afghanistan’s Ghani on track for second term: Initial results
UNCERTAINTY CONTINUES Election commission says outcome could change after final results and was still subject to a review
KABUL: Afghanistan’s incumbent President Ashraf Ghani won a slim majority of votes in a September 28 election, delayed preliminary results showed on Sunday, after a poll that plunged the country into political crisis and was marred by allegations of fraud.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said the total turnout in the presidential election was over 1.8 million with Ghani securing 50.64%, enough to win the first round of voting, beating his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah, who currently shares power with Ghani in a unity government.
However, the head of IEC, Hawa Alam Nuristani, told a press conference in Kabul that the outcome could change after final results and was still subject to a review by the election complaints’ commission.
If a review showed Ghani’s vote falling below 50% and no other candidate with a majority, a second round of voting would be held, she said.
Ac c o r d i n g to the tally released by the IEC on Sunday, the total turnout was 1,824,401 with Ghani winning 923,868 votes while Abdullah finished second with 39.5% and 720,099 votes.
The United States, Afghanistan’s biggest donor, reacted cautiously to the result.
“It is important for Afghans to remember: these results are preliminary. Many steps remain before final election results are certified, to ensure the Afghan people have confidence in the results,” John Bass US ambassador to Afghanistan said in a post on Twitter.
In a statement on Sunday, Abdullah’s office said he did not accept the preliminary results and that the commission had failed to tackle election fraud.
“The result that stands is based on fraud and without considering our l e g i t i mat e d e ma n d s , w i l l n e v e r b e accepted,” the statement said.
With 9.7 million registered vot e r s , a c c o r di ng to I EC, Afghanistan’s 1.9 million voter turnout for the presidential election was low.
Las t month, I EC b e g a n recounting thousands of votes due to what it described as discrepancies in its system. Abdullah’s side objected to the recount and called it an attempt to add more votes in favour of Ghani. IEC dismissed those allegations.
In protest, Abdullah’s supporters blocked IEC offices in seven northern provinces to prevent the recount, creating delays in the results’ announcement.
Last week, Abdullah allowed the recount but warned that he would not accept a tainted result.