Afghanistan: UN mission welcomes release of preliminary results from provincial polls

The top United Nations official in Afghanistan today welcomed the release of preliminary results in the country’s provincial council election and lauded the “real community engagement” seen in the polls.

“The Provincial Councils are Constitutionally-mandated bodies and an important element of Afghan democracy – they bring the principle of accountable democracy and governance beyond Kabul to the provinces,” said Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Ján Kubiš.

Each of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces hosts a provincial council which is mandated to participate in attainment of the development objectives of the state and improvement of the affairs of the province.

“Real community engagement was seen in the provincial council elections, which positively contributed to a high level of participation in the 2014 elections,” added Mr. Kubiš, who is also the head of the UN mission in the country (UNAMA).

The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) today announced the release of the results from the 5 April vote. Candidates have 24 hours to file their complaints against the preliminary vote results. The IEC is scheduled to announce the final results on 7 June, after the adjudication of the electoral complaints by the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC).

“It is now extremely important that the IECC continues to carry out its obligations to address complaints from the Provincial Council elections in an expeditious and transparent manner,” said Mr. Kubiš.

“For their part, the candidates must also display patience and respect of the process,” he added, urging any complaints to be addressed to the appropriate legal institutions.