LASHKARGAH (Pajhwok): A number of Wolesi Jirga candidates from southern Helmand province on Saturday erected a protest tent in front of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), asking the government to recount the votes of the province by election workers from another province.
Fazal Bari Fayaz, one of the protesting candidates, claimed that almost all workers of the IEC were involved in corruption and said the current workers of the commission should be replaced with new people.
He said the IEC only accepted votes casted on the first day of Wolesi Jirga elections and invalidate the votes casted on the second day. He said the central government should resolve the problem.
Hussain Alizada, another failed candidate according to the initial Wolesi Jirgal election results, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the votes of the first day of elections were 53,000 but the votes now increased to 83,000.
He said that significant increase in the number of votes proved a clear fraud in elections.
Another candidate, Jamila Niazai said that their rights were violated as the number of votes was increased after the first day of elections. She said a third party should watch the recount process of votes.
The protesting candidates also shut the IEC office in Helmand against its workers and warned to stage massive demonstrations if their voice was ignored.
The IEC head for Helmand, Hasham Durani, said the installation of tent in front of the commission was against the law. He said the candidates registered their complaints with the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) which was responsible for separating clean votes from fraudulent ones.
He said the votes counted on the first day of elections were incomplete as votes from districts of the province arrived later.
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