Abdullah, un antiguo dirigente de la antitalibán Alianza del Norte, no ha estado disponible para hacer comentarios este lunes después de haberse conocido los resultados. Un miembro destacado de su equipo de campaña, Mijib Rahim, ha declarado, entre acusaciones de fraude, que no aceptarán los resultados preliminares. "Para nosotros, estos resultados son ilegítimos y la comisión electoral debería haber esperado a que finalizasen las negociaciones entre los dos equipos", ha afirmado al canal afgano Tolo TV.

Although this year’s election will be the third direct presidential vote for Indonesia, the element of the unknown — and its potential ripple effect — differentiates this one from the others, leaving analysts uneasy about the outcome.

Elections in the politically binary United States provide voters with an effective either-or choice for presidential candidates each cycle. Although there is always a small percentage who casts a “vote of principle” for a minority party, the public knows to expect a winner from one of the two majority parties.

The July 9 presidential election is set for an extremely tight race, as a recent poll indicated on Wednesday that only a 3 percent gap remained between presidential hopefuls Prabowo Subianto and Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

A joint survey by the Washington-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), which is affiliated with noted pollster Saiful Mujani, found that Prabowo had continued to gain in popularity.

Kuwaiti voters elected pro-government candidates to replace five opposition lawmakers who resigned two months ago in by-elections that saw one of the lowest turnouts in the emirate's history.

The results will boost the grip of the government on the 50-seat parliament where it already enjoyed a comfortable majority.

Almost all opposition groups boycotted the by-elections as they did the general elections held in February and December of 2012 which were both overturned by court judgements.