Afghanistan begins run-off votes for Presidential election

June 14, 2014 09:32 am | Updated November 16, 2021 09:34 pm IST - Kabul

An Afghan woman walks past a mural to support voting in Kandahar, south of Kabul on Friday. Voting began in Afghanistan for the Presidential elections on Saturday.

An Afghan woman walks past a mural to support voting in Kandahar, south of Kabul on Friday. Voting began in Afghanistan for the Presidential elections on Saturday.

Afghanistan began voting early on Saturday in a run-off election for a new President amid security concerns.

Thousands of Afghans lined up at polling centres from early morning to cast their ballots.

“The polls are open now. I call on all the people to go to the polling stations and make their destiny despite security challenges,” Election Commission chief Yousuf Nooristani said after casting his own ballot.

“The people’s votes will transfer the power from one elected President to another for the first time.” He said 6,365 voting centres and 23,136 stations are open.

Voting would be from 7 am (0130 GMT) to 4 pm (1130 GMT), with a possible extension depending on the turnout.

Explosions were heard in Kabul before the vote. “There were two or three remote control bomb explosions in Kabul,” Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said. “But no casualties were reported.” Insecurity and fraud remain the top concerns for election day, according to officials.

Afghan capital Kabul was in a near lockdown, with thousands of security forces deployed in the streets, and around 400,000 across the country, according to officials.

About 12 million people are eligible to vote, according to the Election Commission.

Out of the eight candidates that contested the first round of Afghanistan’s presidential election, two go head-to-head in Saturday’s run-off.

Abdullah Abdullah, an ophthalmologist and former foreign minister, led the first round with 45 per cent of the votes. His rival, former finance minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, trailed with 31 per cent.

They are both seasoned politicians and technocrats who have campaigned on a message of change.

Whoever wins, it will mark the first time a democratically elected president will hand over power to another. President Hamid Karzai, who has ruled the country since the 2001 Taliban ouster, is constitutionally barred from standing for a third term.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.