KABUL: Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday accused senior election officials of serious fraud, opening a dispute over the vote count that could threaten a smooth transition of power.| I take it he lost... |
He said that the turnout figure of 7 million voters announced by the IEC commissioner Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani was probably false. And he demanded the sacking of Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail, chief of the IEC secretariat, over an alleged attempt by Amarkhail to remove unused ballots from the IEC's headquarters in Kabul on polling day.
"There is no collaborating evidence (of the turnout figure) at all throughout the country — that is something that is questionable and what we are concerned about is once again engineered fraud," Abdullah told reporters. "The head of the secretariat was... caught red-handed and we want an investigation. We want him to be removed from his position."
Abdullah feels massive fraud denied him victory in the 2009 election, and he has often said that only a repeat of ballot rigging could deny him power this election.
"Allegations of fraud need to be addressed," US ambassador James Cunningham said on Saturday after polls closed. "But the candidates and their supporters should refrain from premature judgements and from criticism that is not supported with clear evidence."
Saturday's run-off pitted former foreign minister Abdullah against ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani
| How on earth does an Afghani become a "World Bank economist"? |