KABUL – Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has won majority in the presidential polls leading the much-delayed results announced by election officials on Sunday.
The results of the election held on September 28 this year shows Ghani managed to bag 923,868 votes and 50.64 per cent while top rival Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah earned 720,990 votes and 39.52%.
Ghani is set to become President of the country facing violence due to ongoing conflict between Taliban world powers for over a decade.
Candidates now have the right to file any complaints against the results before the final announcement which is expected in few weeks.
Political hindrances are expected in Ghani’s way to the presidential palace as his rival Abdullah has rejected the results, saying he will challenge them.
“We would like to make it clear once again to our people, supporters, election commission and our international allies that our team will not accept the result of this fraudulent vote unless our legitimate demands are addressed,” Abdullah said in a statement.
The Independent Election Commission was due to announce the results on October 19 but these were repeatedly delayed amid technical issues and allegations of fraud.
IEC chairperson Hawa Alam Nuristani said that they have completed the task “with honesty, loyalty, responsibility and faithfulness.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has hailed 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.”
