KABUL (Pajhwok): Presidential aspirants would be disqualified and referred to judicial organs if their dual citizenship was proved, the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) warned on Thursday.   
IECC Secretary and spokesman Nadir Mohseni said the electoral watchdog was ready to register any kind of complaints, and could disqualify any candidate if the objections were found valid.  
Addressing a gathering on prevention of electoral law violations in Kabul, Mohseni said announcing the final list of candidates did not mean they would run despite being found ineligible.
“If we receive documents proving dual citizenship of any candidate, he/she will be removed from the list and introduced to judicial organs for presenting the commission fake documents,” he added. 
The final list of 26 presidential aspirants was announced on October 22, but 16 of them were found ineligible for reasons including dual citizenship and lack of required documents.
He said the commission was looking into over 200 provincial council contenders’ educational certificates. If the runners failed to satisfy the IECC, they would be thrown out of the race, he continued.  
Mohseni insisted the commission was independently discharging its duties in disregard of pressures.
Basir Azizi, a spokesperson for the Attorney General Office, recently said they had received criminal complaints against five presidential contenders and a delegation had been assigned to assess the cases.  
Speaking on the occasion, Independent Election Commission (IEC) deputy head Abdul Rahman Hotaki promised transparent polls, saying the panel had established certain rules and regulation.
There had been a lot of irregularities in previous elections, fuelling concerns among the Afghans and the international community, Hotaki acknowledged. But the April vote would be free of fraud, he added.
ra/mud