The Taliban has claimed victory in Afghanistan after taking over the capital Kabul, bringing to a swift end almost 20 years of a US-led coalition's presence in the country.
Incumbent President Ashraf Ghani has been declared the winner of Afghanistan's presidential election, almost five months after the voting took place amid a low turnout due to the threat of violence and concerns over electoral fraud.
Five months after Afghans went to the polls to choose a new president, election authorities have declared the incumbent, Ashraf Ghani, the winner, but his main opponent has rejected the result and said he will form his own “inclusive government”.
The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) said on Monday that 65 percent of registered complaints have documentation to back up claims. Complaints from five out of 34 provinces have been assessed.
Qutbuddin Roydar, a member of the IECC, said that 35 percent of the complaints have no documentation.
The Independent Election Complaints Commission (IECC) at a Thursday press conference announced the beginning of the process of reviewing registered complaints about the presidential election.
The commission said that the electoral campaigns have registered 16,500 complaints about the presidential election, which was held on September 28.
From those complaints, about 8,000 were filed by Abdullah Abdullah’s team and more than 3,000 complaints were filed by Ghani’s team.
President Ashraf Ghani earned 923,868 votes and 50.64% , to lead the preliminary results of the 2019 presidential election, according to the Independent Election Commission’s announcement on Sunday morning.
Abdullah Abdullah followed with 720,990 votes and 39.52%, the IEC announced.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) welcomes the announcement of the preliminary results for Afghanistan’s presidential election and commended the “Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) – for their work leading up to the announcement.”
The preliminary results from Afghanistan's presidential election have been postponed for a second time, election officials say, a new delay that is likely to fuel more political uncertainty and fraud allegations.
Independent Election Commission (IEC) spokesman Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi said on November 13 that the results will not be announced the next day as planned due to "technical problems and other issues."
The leading challenger to incumbent Ashraf Ghani in Afghanistan's presidential election more than a month ago has withdrawn his team of observers from the ongoing and acrimonious official recount.
Candidate and longtime Ghani rival Abdullah Abdullah, the current chief executive in a power-sharing deal that cleared the path to Ghani's first five-year term after another disputed election, announced the pullout on November 10.
He said any results from Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission would be illegitimate if his observers are not present for the tally.
As speculation among Afghan presidential contenders continues, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) still has not managed to come up with an exact date to announce the preliminary results of the elections.
There are reports that Election Commission officials are in conflict with the commission’s secretariat.
IEC commissioner Awrangzeb on Saturday said that the proposal to delay the preliminary result for three weeks by the IEC’s secretariat has been facing opposition and that meetings are underway to settle the issue.
The Independent Election Commission on Tuesday said that the announcement of the preliminary election results might be delayed.
Rahima Zarifi, an IEC commissioner, stated that the possible delay for the preliminary results could be between three or four days or a week, but she said that the commission is working in three shifts to accelerate the process.
The Council of Presidential Candidates on Tuesday accused Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah for being involved in large-scale electoral fraud.
They said that each of these two candidates declared himself winner of the election while the nation was still awaiting the election commission to separate the valid and invalid votes.
The Council members also said that any attempt to put pressure on the election result before the invalidation of fake votes could push the country into crisis.
Measures meant to prevent a repeat of fraudulent elections resulted in delays that will likely mean an Oct. 19 deadline for announcing the winner will be missed.
By Mujib Mashal and Fahim Abed
Officials from the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Thursday raised concerns over reports that another 14 polling centers will be closed due to security problems--this in addition to the 431 polling centers already closed. Official numbers, however, have yet to be shared with the IEC, and this is also a cause for concern.
“The security institutions told the election commission that additional centers are to be closed, but they said the actual numbers will be shared only after the assessment is complete,” said Zabiullah Sadat, spokesman of the IEC.
Afghan leaders including former President Hamid Karzai, former Mujahideen leaders, and former Taliban, in a nine-article statement, called for stopping the election and focusing on peace.
Other figures who attended the meeting were former Vice President Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, former Balkh governor Atta Mohammad Noor, former Minister of Energy and Water Mohammad Ismail Khan, former National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta and former Taliban member Agha Jan Mutasim.
Afghan leaders including former President Hamid Karzai, former Mujahideen leaders, and former Taliban, in a nine-article statement, called for stopping the election and focusing on peace.
Other figures who attended the meeting were former Vice President Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, former Balkh governor Atta Mohammad Noor, former Minister of Energy and Water Mohammad Ismail Khan, former National Security Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta and former Taliban member Agha Jan Mutasim.
The current situation in the country is not suitable for the presidential elections, said Mohammad Ismail Khan, a former Jihadi leader and prominent member of Jamiat-e-Islami party, suggesting it will be better to resume the peace talks.
Mr. Khan, who has served as minister of energy and water under former President Hamid Karzai’s government, said the country will be driven into a new crisis if the elections are held within the next two weeks.
Chairperson of the Independent Election Commission, Hawa Alam Nuristani, at a press conference on Tuesday assured that her team is fully ready to hold the presidential election on its scheduled time.
She said that all required election materials, including ballot papers, result sheets, and ink, have arrived from abroad and the transfer of the materials to provinces has also started.
Figures by the IEC show that 9.6 million people have registered to vote.
Mrs. Nuristani said that holding a national identity card and fingerprint will be a must on election day.
Presidential candidate Rahmatullah Nabil at his first election rally in Kabul on Saturday accused the National Unity Government leaders – President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah – of pursuing policies which fuel discrimination among the people.
Nabil said the government leaders have failed to serve the people and practice good governance over the past five years.
Nabil, who represents the Security and Justice Election Campaign Team, invited Abdullah and Ghani for an election debate.
