Final election results out Wednesday

The final results from Afghanistan’s first parliamentary elections for more than three decades will be announced on Wednesday, an election official said on Monday in the Afghan capital Kabul. “The final results from the parliamentary election will be announced at a press conference on Wednesday,” said Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the UN-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB). Election results for the historic parliamentary polls last September had initially been expected by 22 October. But counting only ended last week. The JEMB certified final results for a further six provinces on Sunday. The body expects to certify results in the coming days for the remaining five provinces: Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Paktika and Nangahar, and for the countrywide Kuchi (nomad) constituency. “Certified final results already declared for 29 of Afghanistan’s provinces and the remaining results are expected to be certified within the coming days,” Bissmillah Bissmil, JEMB chair, said. The JEMB also set out plans for the election to the upper house of parliament. The 102-member Meshrano Jirga will consist of two members from each provincial council and 34 presidential appointees. “We are moving forward with our plans for the Meshrano Jirga elections. We are confident that preparations for this final phase of the election operation are on track and that Afghanistan will soon have its first democratically elected national assembly in decades.” Bissmil noted. Provincial councils are scheduled to meet for the first time on 10 November, with the Meshrano Jirga election taking place on Saturday 12 November. Ballots cast in up to 3 percent of polling stations were excluded from the vote count because of fraud allegations, including ballot-stuffing, the JEMB said last month. Of the country's 12.5 million registered voters, some 6.8 million Afghans took part in the polls to elect a national legislature and 34 provincial councils for a five-year term. Almost 5,800 candidates contested the poll, including over 2,700 for the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga (lower house) and more than 3,000 for 420 seats in the provincial councils. Afghanistan’s last parliamentary elections were held in 1969.