Poll panel rejects watchdog’s decision

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) chairman on Friday said the poll panel had disagreed with its decision on complaints from the presidential runners.

A day after the decision was conveyed to it, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) expressed its dissent, Abdul Sattar Sadat, the electoral watchdog chief, wrote on his Facebook page.

“Exercising its right under Article 59 of the Election Law, the IEC has rejected our assessment of complaints,” he said. The IECC will defend its decision with logical arguments and re-convey it to the panel later in the day.

IEC member Mohammad Aziz Bakhtiari told Pajhwok Afghan News their rejection of the decision stemmed from the invalidation of votes from 118 polling centres without any cogent reason.

“The IECC has not assigned us reason for scrapping votes from these sites. Tomorrow we will ask the watchdog to justify its decision,” he explained, ruling result announcement on Saturday.   

On Thursday, Sadat told a news conference in Kabul IEC could challenge the decision within 24 hours of its receipt. “In case the IEC doesn’t object to or stays silent, it is bound to announce the final result and name the winner.”

For its part, the administration of President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly said it has completed preparations for the inauguration of a new head of state. It has also underlined the need for the early announcement of the result.

mud

Visits: 0