PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): The process of a vote recount in northern Baghlan province has been suspended, pending a decision of the central Independent Election Commission (IEC), an official said on Wednesday.
Baghlan’s IEC head Abdul Qaher Wahab Safi said protesting Wolesi Jirga candidates had demanded the remaining recount of votes to be performed in Kabul as they did not trust a fair recount in Pul-i-Khumri, the provincial capital.
He said: “We have now stopped the vote recount process and waiting for orders from the central IEC.”
Meanwhile, Ferozuddin Aimaq, one of the protesting candidates, said they lately lost trust in the local IEC office in the vote recount process.
He said 30,000 fake votes had been cast for a candidate in Baghlan-i-Markazi, Tala Barfak, Khost and Borka districts which the commission believed the votes were real.
Another candidate Abdul Sammad Hamid said the process of the vote recount would remain suspended in Baghlan unless non-biometric votes were declared invalid. He warned to block the Kabul-North highway against traffic if their demand was ignored.
It is worth mentioning that the protesting candidates from Baghlan blocked the northern highway for traffic three days to register their protest.
nh/ma
