Victory via fraud unacceptable: Sherzai

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Presidential runner Gul Agha Sherzai on Saturday said he would not endorse a president elected through fraud and such an election would be in violation of national sovereignty.

Sherzai told this to a gathering of tribal elders and residents coming all the way from Helmand, Uruzgan, Zabul, Nimroz and Farah provinces to the southern city of Kandahar.

The former Nangarhar governor said the Afghans braved threats to participate in the April 5 polls, but unfortunately the elections were massively rigged countrywide, especially in Kandahar.

He claimed most Kandahar residents had voted for him but most of the votes were either torched or thrown into toilets.

Urging the electoral bodies to separate genuine votes from bogus ones, Sherzai said defending people’s ballot was his responsibility and a democratic right.

“I won’t dub the vote as illegitimate but its legitimacy is questioned. If a candidate gets power through fraud then his orders and decrees will not be accepted,” he remarked.

He smelled fraud in the elections from the very beginning, saying every candidate had visited the election commission in government vehicles to file nomination papers.

“The election commission is not independent. It serves as police force of the presidential palace,” he added.

Appreciating the role of the Election Complaints Commission (ECC), Sherzai claimed the watchdog was under pressure because it lacked powers to deal with threats. 

ECC employees in Kandahar had received death threats if they did not follow orders, Sherzai said, quoting ECC head Abdul Sattar Sadat. 

In response to recent remarks by President Karzai, who urged candidates to endorse the election results, Sherzai said he would accept transparent results and if a contender made it to the presidency through fraud, he would not accept him. 

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