Cost of fraud will be too high: Abdullah

KABUL (Pajhwok): Front-line presidential runner Dr. Abdullah Abdullah warned of possible fraud in Saturday’s vote, saying the cost of irregularities would be too heavy for the country to afford.

Addressing a news conference hours before the two-month campaign period ended, Abdullah urged the people to stream to polling stations on election day, defying threats of attacks.

He also called for the government to honour its commitment to holding free and transparent elections and avoid supporting one candidate or the other. In case of anomalies, people won’t accept the result and the consequences will be horrible.”

A former foreign minister, Abdullah that the Afghan people had been paying the cost of fraud over the past five years — a reference to alleged rigging in the previous vote.

He explained widespread administrative corruption, growing insecurity and violations of the law had been the consequences of fraud in the 2009 ballot. A repetition of the past mistake would push the country toward further instability, he warned.

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