Afghan legislative polls to be held in transparent manner: Election Commission

While many candidates are concerned about the possible malpractice in the coming Afghan parliamentary polls, the UN-sponsored Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) assured of a transparent elections Wednesday.

"The Afghan people can have faith and confidence in our meticulous planning to ensure the transparency of the elections and the security of their votes," Abdul Hakim Murad, a commissioner of the JEMB, told journalists at a press conference here.

He made this comment amid increasing concerns by candidates including opposition leader Mohammad Yunus Qanooni that the next parliamentary polls may have fraud and forgery.

Qanooni, who heads an alliance of over a dozen small and big parties, demanded very recently that vote counting should be held at voting centers besides changing the staff of the UN-financed JEMB.

The ballot boxes, according to JEMB rules, will be taken from all the polling booths in districts stations to vote counting centers in the provinces in the presence of observers while opposition describes it a way for cheating.

"No candidates will be allowed to take the voters to polling stations. Voters will be prevented from casting more than one ballot and this time inking system ensures the staining of voters' fingers after they have voted," Murad emphasized.

Using of common ink in staining voters' finger in Afghan presidential election last year that enabled Hamid Karzai to rule the country for a five-years term caused mistrust and trouble between people and JEMB.

"This year all necessary measures to ensure the safety and fairness of the parliamentary elections have been put in place," the official noted.

Nearly 12.4 million Afghans, according to the JEMB official, have registered to vote in the first-post Taliban legislative elections scheduled for Sept. 18 in order to elect their representatives from among over 5,000 candidates to a 249-seat parliament in the war-shattered nation.

Source: Xinhua