Sunday July 13, 2014
Kabul (BNA) The Afghan Presidential candidates, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, have agreed to 100 percent audit of the votes casted in run-off presidential election. The announcement was made by US Secretary of State, John Kerry, who met with the Afghan presidential candidates during his two day visit to Afghanistan.
Kerry said the audit of the votes will start within the next 24 hours in capital Kabul and votes from the provinces will be transported in Kabul with the help of ISAF and Afghan security forces. He said the two presidential candidates have agreed to abide by the results of the extensive audit. Kerry also added that the audit of the votes will be supervised by international observers including the United Nations and observers of the presidential candidates.
In the meantime, Dr. Abdullah said they have reached to a technical agreement and a framework of national unity which is in the interest of the Afghan people. Dr. Ghani also said they have committed for an extensive, thoroughness and 100 percent audit of the votes. He insisted that stability of the country is the desire of every Afghan and pledged that no compromise will be made with the votes of the Afghan people. Dr. Ghani said each and every single vote will be respected during the vote’s audit. The two presidential candidates also called on President Hamid Karzai to postpone the date of the swear-in ceremony, considering that the votes audit might take a few weeks.
