MAZAR-E-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Governor of northern Balkh province Atta Mohammad Noor said on Saturday he would warmly congratulate Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai if he won the ballot in a fair and transparent way.

Voting in the runoff presidential election formally got under way at 7:00am, which will last till 4:00pm. Noor cast his vote at the Fatima Balkhi High School in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh.
Speaking to journalists, he said: “If the nation votes Ahmadzai into power in a fair way, then I will congratulate him.” However, he ruled out accepting any assignment if Ahmadzai was elected as president.
“If Ahmadzai wins, he can rule along with his team but we will not be part of his government,” he noted, asking the electoral bodies to discharge their duties and counter fraud attempts.
He said the election process was going well and he had no report of any untoward incident. He said five polling sites had been closed due to recent flash floods in the province but those centres were reopened.
Official of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) said the five polling centres had to be closed because of interference from warlords and insecurity.
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