Ghani accepts, Abdullah rejects UNAMA offer

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Reform and Unanimity team, led by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, on Friday rejected as unacceptable a UN proposal for breaking the deadlock over the outcome of the presidential election.

On the other hand, the Change and Continuity team — headed by Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai — said it welcomed any suggestion that ensured election transparency.

UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Jan Kubis discussed the election impasse with President Hamid Karzai, the chief justice, head of the Commission for Monitoring Implementation of the Constitution, chairmen and members of the election bodies.

Kubis suggested an investigation into votes from over 8,000 polling stations — 43 percent or 3.5 million ballots. He would formally present the proposal to the commissions and the presidential hopefuls.

Reacting to the UN offer, Abdullah’s camp said the suggestion was unacceptable because they demanded a comprehensive audit of ballots from 11,000 polling stations.

Fazlur Rahman Orya, the team’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News they had asked the IEC not to announce the preliminary results until the probe was completed. This proposal had been endorsed by UNAMA, he claimed.

He added the UN wanted ballots from 8,000 polling stations to be recounted, but the Abdullah camp demanded a review of 11,000 sites in the presence of representatives of the candidates, media and international observers.

Orya also called upon UNAMA to ensure invalidation of the additional one million votes, which were tallied after the IEC chief put the number of total ballots at seven million. “Quarantining these votes isn’t enough.”

He said their boycott of the election management bodies continued. “They aren’t credible. And that’s why we want the votes from the 11,000 sites to be audited in the presence of the media and representatives of the candidates and foreign observers.

Hamidullah Farooqi, speaking on behalf of Ashraf Ghani’s camp, said: “UNAMA has considered the factors on the basis of which the Reform and Unanimity team demands vote audit. In concrete terms, these sites account for 43 percent or 3.5 million ballots.”

He said they would formally announce agreement with the UN proposal. Farooqi accused their rivals of having “other designs” that could not be achieved through legal means. The opponents were looking for different excuses, he alleged. 

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