Af prez hopefuls raise fraud fears
Leading candidates in Afghanistan’s presidential election voiced concern Sunday that voting was tainted by fraud, a day after millions defied Taliban threats and turned out to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai.
World leaders praised the courage of voters, who came out in force to cast their ballots despite bad weather and a violent campaign of intimidation, and urged patience during the long counting process.
Ahead of the poll there were fears that a repeat of the massive fraud which blighted Karzai’s reelection in 2009 would undermine the winner’s legitimacy at a testing time for the war-torn country.
There were reports of polling stations in numerous parts of the country running out of ballot papers, leaving some people unable to take part.
KABUL:
More than 1,200 complaints had been received by the Election Complaints Commission (ECC) by Sunday morning, spokesman Nadir Mohsini said, and the number was increasing.
“Complaints include late opening of polling centres, shortage of ballot papers, encouraging of voters to vote for certain candidates and mistreatment of some election officials,” Mohsini said.
But in a promising sign for the stability of the process, two of the frontrunners to succeed Karzai, who is stepping down after serving a maximum two terms, said they would abide by the ECC’s rulings. Bomb destroys election truck A roadside bomb hit a truck carrying full ballot boxes in northern Afghanistan, killing three people a day. Eight boxes of votes were destroyed in the blast, which came as the three leading candidates voiced concerns about possible fraud.