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| Afghanistan | |
| Afghan Election Fraud Panel Member Resigns | |
| 2009-10-14 | |
| [Quqnoos] An Afghan member of Afghanistan's Electoral Complaint Commission resigned on Monday, blaming foreign interference weighing down their decisions Mustafa Barikzai, one of only two Afghan members of the ECC, appointed by the Afghan Supreme Court, said that their foreign colleagues were "making all decisions on their own". The ECC, is the sole authority to stamp the countrys disputed election as transparent. It has five members, three of them foreigners appointed by the United Nations.
The direct interference of foreigners caused the delay in the announcement of final result, he added in a press conference on Monday. The UN office in Kabul denies the allegations made by Mr Barakzai, saying his resignation was 'regrettable'. The resignation of the high ranking election fraud investigator follows the removal of a senior UN official, who backed a total re-count of the Afghan vote. Peter Galbraith, a US diplomat, was fired over a dispute with the UN Special Envoy in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, on how to deal with the allegations of massive fraud in the August elections. The final certified outcome of the election is expected to be announced this week. Preliminary results placed incumbent Hamid Karzai in the lead with about 55% of the votes ahead of his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, who received nearly 28%. European Union election observers said 1.1 million votes for President Karzai are 'suspicious' and, if removed from his tally, would result in a run-off with Dr Abdullah. | |
| Posted by:Fred |