UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The top UN envoy for Afghanistan on Monday asked candidates and their supporters to accept the outcome of the presidential poll once it is announced.
"Once electoral complaints have been adjudicated in accordance with the law, I urge the candidates and their supporters to accept the outcome," said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan.
"When the election is completed with credibility, it will become a milestone in the history of establishing a representative political system of the country," he told the Security Council.
Yamamoto also called on all stakeholders to enable the electoral institutions to exercise their responsibilities in full, including by addressing all complaints through the appropriate legal and institutional channels.
The Afghan presidential election was held as scheduled on Sept. 28. Preliminary results, which were expected by Oct. 19, are yet to be announced.
The primary reason for the delay is to ensure that the electoral process is as transparent and credible as possible even at the sacrifice of time, explained Yamamoto, who is also leading the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
From a technical perspective, the presidential election this year has improved considerably on past elections in Afghanistan, with much greater transparency, he said.
The use of biometric voter verification devices seemed largely effective in detecting and deterring fraud, and several new check mechanisms throughout the process have enabled the electoral management bodies to detect and eliminate multiple and fraudulent votes. Candidates and other political stakeholders have had far greater access to information than in previous elections, he said.
Deduplication of biometric data to identify multiple voters, and data comparison between the tallied results and the Digital Audit Verification Support System was completed. The Electoral Complaints Commission has adjudicated more than 4,000 election day-related complaints, he noted.
Nevertheless, this electoral process has not been without problems, said Yamamoto.
Some candidates and their supporters have expressed concerns regarding the technical aspects of the process and the lack of public information. There have been numerous exchanges between the electoral management bodies and candidates both orally and in writing. This process entailed the blockage of audit and recount in seven provinces by supporters of some candidates. The blockage added to the delay in the announcement of preliminary results.
However, the process finally resulted in the resumption of audit and recount in the remaining seven provinces on Sunday. "Now we are expecting to hear the preliminary results soon," said Yamamoto.
