Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Kabul (BNA) The head of European Union (EU) Election Observer Mission (EU EOM) on Monday appraised the spirit and determination of the Afghan people that defied threats and voted bravely in the presidential elections and said that the Taliban has lost and failed to surpass the Afghan decision for voting. However the delegation said that it can’t predict who the winner will be.
“We can’t predict who will win the elections, but the Taliban has lost,” head of the EU election observer mission Thijis Berman, said. “Taliban’s threat to disrupt the elections through violence led to loss of lives of citizens, journalists, IEC workers, policemen and one international observer, but the violence did not overshadow the moral of Afghan people from voting.” The European Union Election Observer Mission monitored the voting process in various provinces of the country including capital Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif capital of northern Balkh province, Southern Kandahar province and few other places across Afghanistan.
The delegation offered appreciations to bravery and the courage of Afghan people who participated in the elections largely by disregarding their safety and security. Although, there were deficiencies during the elections process because shortages of ballots and claims of riggings that the EU observers believe deprived many Afghans from voting.
They added that the April 5 election is Afghanistan’s greatest political achievements, but still raise concerns about the violations that were committed during the silent period and voting procedure. Berman questioned how the IEC is supposed to plan accordingly when voter registration is not updated.” Three have been reports and observations on the lack of ballots in a few areas and the reason for it is still unknown,” Berman said,” Wit so man voter cards out there and the absence of a comprehensive and updated voter registration, it’s virtually impossible for the IEC to plan appropriately let alone anything close to reality.” The EU reiterated that the European countries are committed to work on transparency of the elections, stating that if the election goes into a second round they are prepared to monitor polls for the second time.
In the meantime, Afghanistan election monitoring institutions have also expressed satisfaction over the transparency and fairness in the elections and urge the elections was much better as compare to the past and massive participation of the people in the polling further develop the transparency and credibility of polling process. The election monitoring institutions believe that the Afghan people despite major security threats and intimidations surpassed and ignored all the things and came out to mark the future of their motherland. Political commentators have also hailed the determination of the Afghan people that extensively participated in the elections and proved that the Afghan nation strongly believes on democracy and human rights. “Security threats were the main concerns of the elections commission and the people, fortunately the elections held in peaceful environment, if the situations continue in same track, results of the elections will also be announced in transparent manner,” political analyst Ali Rahmani said.
“The people of Afghanistan are waiting to see the results of the elections, the EU and Afghan election observers must jointly work to ensure transparency of the results so that election results are according to the aspiration of Afghan people. Meanwhile, the citizens have expressed hope that the responsible institutions will honestly work to ensure the fairness and transparency of the elections. “The people of Afghanistan have appreciated the election organizing body for conducting the elections on time, but people are still distressed on security situations in the country and are worry about the transparency of the elections in the insecure regions,” local resident Farishta said. The European Union had also dispatched an observer mission in the previous elections which were held in 2009 and the EU constitutes one the donors that provided financial assistance for the election process.
