MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): The acting governor of northern Balkh province on Sunday said brazen irregularities had been committed in the April provincial council elections, with electoral officials receiving millions of afghanis in bribes.
Noor, also the Jamiat-i-Islami party leader, was addressing the swearing-in ceremony for the newly-elected provincial council members in Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital.
The acting governor said officials of the two electoral bodies had not only committed fraud in the first and second round of the presidential elections but also in the provincial council elections nationwide.
Noor said all forms of corruption existed in the electoral bodies. “Let the people and the government decide their fate. One day, they will stand trial.”
He said instead of the unity government, a government based on genuine votes should have been formed. But in the same breath, he said the unity government was in the country’s interest in the current circumstances.
However, his allegations were rejected as unfounded by Independent Election Commission (IEC) chief for Balkh Izzatullah Arman.
He told Pajhwok Afghan News he would not rule out fraud in the elections, but he had no information about the type of individuals in the election bodies mentioned by Atta Mohammad Noor.
He said one of the reasons behind electoral fraud had been interferences by powerful individuals in the election process. He said Balkh was among provinces, where powerful individuals had interfered in the elections.
In his address to the new PC members, Noor said they should not be influenced by tribal affiliations and instead should work for all keeping in mind Afghanistan’s development and prosperity.
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