Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Over 90% of the votes have been counted in Afghanistan’s presidential elections and President Hamid Karzai leads with 54% of the votes. Karzai’s closest competitor, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, received 28% of the votes counted.
The United Nations-backed “Election Complaints Commission” announced yesterday that votes from nearly 2,500 polling stations out of 26,300 would have to be recounted. The Election Complaints Commission has received hundreds of complaints regarding the widespread fraud which occurred during the elections and the counting process.
The results of the elections were due to be announced on the 3rd of September; however, it was later announced those results would be delayed to mid September. After the ECC’s statement, the recount process is expected to take weeks, once again postponing the announcement until October. In case there is a decrease in Karzai’s total votes below 50%, there will be a second round between Karzai and Dr. Abdullah.
Fazel Sancharaki, Dr. Abdullah’s spokesman, said the recount decision was a “positive step” but believed there are more votes that should be recounted. “The fraud is much more extensive,” he said.
Dr. Abdullah’s supporters believe that Karzai’s vote total after falsified ballots are not included, will be less than 50%.
A campaign spokesman for Karzai, Waheed Omer, said he was sure that Karzai would still keep more than 50% of the vote after the recounting process has finished.
“If this is done transparently, and done in an accountable manner, and our voice is heard, then it is a process we respect and the result we will definitely accept.”
