KABUL (PAN): In an expected reaction, President Hamid Karzai's camp has slammed the UN-backed panel's decisions on alleged vote fraud as 'complex,' rejecting the findings as illegal. But former foreign minister Dr. Abdullah hailed the inquiry outcome as a positive move.

Waheed Omar, spokesman for the Karzai campaign, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Monday the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) should have communicated the outcome of its investigations to the Independent Election Commission (IEC).

Before being unveiled, Omar argued, the ECC decisions should have gone to the IEC for certification and adjustment of candidates' vote tallies. The findings should have been released after being implemented, he believed.

However, the Karzai campaign manager added, they would formally react to the ECC orders after the Afghan poll panel unveiled certified results of the August 20 presidential ballot. "We will see whether the commissions have complied with constitutional provisions."

In response to a query, the official claimed the ECC had come under pressure in announcing its findings in a secret and ambiguous manner. "The report is ambivalent. And we think it has been issued under duress."

Over the last fortnight, he pointed out, President Karzai had been under mounting pressure from different quarters to cut a deal with his closest electoral rival Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. The pressures led to converting the election results into a tradeoff, he alleged.

"How can a candidate negotiate government formation with other contenders before he is formally declared an outright winner?" Omar asked.  

On the other hand, the Dr. Abdullah camp welcomed the report and said it was aware of the conclusion two days before its release. "While appreciating the ECC decisions, we expect President Karzai to respect them," observed a spokesman for Abdullah.

Syed Hussein Aqa Faazal Sancharaki, insisting the election had gone into the runoff stage, revealed that Karzai's vote share had come down to 48 percent from 54.6 percent, as announced initially announced by the IEC.

After an agonosingly long wait of nearly two months, the UN-backed electoral watchdog Monday finalised its decisions with respect to polling and counting for the presidential elections.

The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) officially communicated the outcome of its investigations to the Independent Election Commission (IEC), which will adjust candidates’ vote totals in accordance with the findings before it unveils the final results.

In a statement, the panel said it issued three separate decisions with respect to certification of the presidential election results. One, the ECC has ordered the IEC to invalidate 210 polling stations around the country where it found clear and convincing evidence of fraud.

Two, As a result of the audit and recount process, the ECC has directed the IEC to invalidate a certain percentage of each candidate's votes in six separate categories. Each category corresponds to criteria set forth in the ECC order of September 8, 2009, which required an investigation of polling stations that were highly suspicious of fraud.

Three, the ECC decided that 18 polling stations quarantined by the IEC might be included in the results because it found no clear evidence of fraud. The ECC agreed that the other polling stations quarantined by the IEC were properly excluded from the election results.

Kabul-based diplomats, meanwhile, confirmed international powers including the US, France, Britain and the United Nations pressed the key candidates over the last few days to work out an arrangement so as to obviate the need for a second round of elections.

On Saturday, an influential American lawmaker and the French foreign minister met the president in an effort to resolve the ballot dispute. US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry and Bernard Kouchner underlined a middle path to end the stalemate.

The French foreign minister characterised the post-poll situation in Afghanistan as "very complicated." He observed the outside world did not understand what was going on in the war-torn country.

"Your friends outside -- supporting freedom for a democratic Afghanistan fighting against terrorism, are a bit lost. They don't understand what's going on here. This is necessary for us to understand."

In the midst of reviewing its new strategy for Afghanistan, the Obama administration is yet to take a decision on surging US troop levels in the war-hit country due to the prevailing uncertainty.

The White House chief of staff stressed on Sunday the poll outcome must be legitimate to produce a credible government. "There are basically two roads there, or two basic processes. One is a runoff election between the two top candidates, or negotiations between those candidates. But the end result must be a legitimate and credible government to the Afghan people."

John Emanuel told the CNN in an interview: "That's what is important. It's the Afghans making a decision about what type of government they are going to have and what road they're going to take to that point."

mud/pr