Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday warned of consequences if the Independent Election Commission fails to rethink decisions, which he said, were against laws and procedures.
Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Abdullah said that during the recount pause IEC gave no convincing response about thousands of votes he said had been added to the recount despite lacking biometric data and which were cast outside voting hours.
“We will use any legal, legitimate and peaceful means which would prevent resettling of fraud,” Abdullah said suggesting he would call on people to take to the streets.
Abdullah and several other candidates boycotted the partial recounting over inclusion of tens of thousands of votes which did not come through biometric devices or cast outside voting hours.
IEC paused the process for three days to address the candidates’ concerns, but Abdullah and several other candidates have said they were not convinced.
Abdullah said that IEC was taking side and the election was facing the threat of losing legitimacy.
He urged IEC to immediately rethink its decisions which he said were against election laws and procedures, failure to do so, he said, would have consequences. He said that those who “pressured” the IEC would be responsible for the consequences.
Abdullah said that one of his election observers had been killed by security forces in northern Kunduz province.
“Any attempt to use Afghan forces for political purposes in election process would be a national treason,” Abdullah said.
