Number of presidential runners goes up

KABUL): The number of presidential runners has gone up in the wake of thoroughgoing investigations into objections, the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) said on Tuesday.

The watchdog had started investigating complaints against presidential and provincial council runners in early November. The process came to an end on Monday evening, two days behind schedule.  

Abdul Sattar Sadat, the watchdog’s head, told a news conference in Kabul today there had been no other change in the preliminary list of candidates issued by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Oct. 22.

The preliminary list of presidential contenders included Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Abdur Rab Rassoul Sayyaf, Qutbuddin Hilal, Abdul Rahim Wardak, Dr. Ashraf Ghani, Dr. Zalmay Rassoul, Sardar Mohammad Nadir Naeem, Qayyum Karzai, Hidayat Amin Arsala and Gul Agha Sherzai.

Anwarul Haq Ahadi, Syed Ishaq Gilani, Bismillah Sher, Fazal Karim Najimi, Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai, Sarwar Ahmadzai, Hamidullah Qadiri, Daud Sultanzoy, Azizullah Ludin, Salman Ali Dostzada, Farooq Azam, Khadija Ghaznavi, Abdul Hadi Dabir, Noor Rahman Lewal, Dawar Ahmad Naderi and Nader Shah Ahmadzai were disqualified.

As a result of the IECC probe, 40 provincial council candidates have been removed from the initial list. Sadat said they failed to meet the conditions set by the commission.

There were problems with the candidates’ educational documents and the prescribed number of voter cards from supporters, he explained, insisting the panel had been impartial in probing complaints.

He added 76 of the runners rejected by the IEC had been included in the final list, because the watchdog found their papers complete.

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