Independent Election Commission (IEC) Chairman Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani admitted on Wednesday that the runoff round expected between Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai could face delays.
A runoff is required by Afghan law if no presidential candidate gets over 50 percent of votes in the first round. As of now, no one has passed that threshold. Although the runoff round was originally scheduled for May 28, election officials have said a number of setbacks have made it more likely that the round will be delayed.
Mr. Nuristani cited the Taliban’s attack on the IEC’s headquarters in Kabul as the cause of the delay.
“The election law says that a run-off must be held two weeks after the final results’ announcement, but the Taliban launched a rocket attack, and as a result of the attack we lost some of our critical materials, therefore, we will not be able to hold a run-off after two weeks,” he explained.
The final results are expected to be announced by May 14, once the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) has concluded its adjudication of complaint cases. As of the preliminary results announced last week, Abdullah leads the election with 44 percent of votes.
In recent weeks rumors have circulated that the candidates that trail far behind Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani - the top two candidates who would take part in a runoff - have taken steps to form coalitions.
Yet representatives from Abdullah’s campaign have said a coalition government is not worth pursuing. “The formation of a coalition government is not our aim, and it does not benefit the country either," Mohammad Asem told TOLOnews.
Meanwhile, a member of Ashraf Ghani’s team, Taher Zahir, said he was confident no candidate would receive a majority of votes and that a runoff round would be required to determine the next president. He also said coalitions between the top two candidates and the trailing six would not get in the way of the runoff.
“Holding a run-off is necessary, and the formation of coalitions will not prevent the run-off,” Zahir said.
Source/Fuente: http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/runoff-will-face-delays-iec
