Afghanistan’s election watchdog has disqualified 19
candidates who stood in the September poll for alleged fraud.
Seven of them are current members of the 249-seat
parliament.
The disqualifications were announced after the UN-backed
Election Complaints Commission found most of their votes were fraudulent.
It is the latest setback to the vote, which has been
surrounded by allegations of corruption and rigging. A final result has yet to
be declared.
The parliamentary vote was seen as a key test for the
country, a year after the re-election of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was
overshadowed by fraud.
Turnout was around 40% in Afghanistan’s second
parliamentary election since the 2001 US-led invasion.
One Afghan official told Reuters news agency the
disqualified candidates would not be able to appeal.
Some cases are to be referred to the Attorney General.
The Independent Election Commission has already scrapped
1.3m votes as invalid – almost a quarter of those cast – because of fraud or
other irregularities.
Last month, the electoral authorities said more than 220
candidates were being investigated for fraud in the election.
Rallies have been held in Kabul and other cities calling
for the election commissions to be scrapped.
A number of candidates took part and complained their
votes had been stolen by well-connected rivals.
The BBC’s Quentin Sommerville in Kabul says that despite
the irregularities, the vote largely received the backing of the international
community: Afghanistan’s coalition partners have been keen to portray the
election as a success, and as further proof the country is coming closer to
standing on its own two feet.
Our correspondent adds that there’s been a growing row
between President Karzai and the Independent Election Commission – Mr Karzai
accused the commission of creating political instability and in turn, he has
been accused of meddling.
Members of the president’s ethnic group – Pashtuns –
performed poorly in the election. In one majority Pashtun province, Ghazni, not
a single Pashtun has won.
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