GARDEZ (Pajhwok): Supporters of candidates facing attorneys in southeastern Paktia province on Monday said the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC)’s decision against the hopefuls was unjust.
Dozens of supporters of the four Wolesi Jirga candidates gathered in protest in Gardiz city, the capital of Paktia, today.
Karimullah, talking on behalf of other protestors, said the IECC did not invalidate votes of polling stations where powerful individuals stuffed ballot boxes but they invalidated original votes of people.
He said the IECC pocketed bribe money for introducing the four candidates to the attorneys over fraud allegations.
Another protestor, Nasir Ahmad, said they would not participate in the next presidential election if their voice was not heard.
However, IECC head in Paktia, Hedayatullah Esmati, said fraud allegations were precisely investigated based on evidence.
He rejected allegations they introduced the four candidates to attorney office based on bribery deals.
Esmati said votes were carefully audited and clean votes were being separated from fraudulent ones.
The IECC in Paktia last Saturday invalidated thousands of votes in three districts of the province.
The commission referred four candidates including Hafizullah Mubariz, Faridullah Zazai, Nawab Mangal and Shayesta Jan Ahadi to the attorney’s office over electoral fraud.
