Afghanistan releases 'final' election results

[Elmore Furth]

Source: LA Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's main electoral body on Wednesday released what were billed as the final results of September's trouble-plagued parliamentary election. But as with so many things here, final doesn't mean over with.

Results for one of the country's 34 provinces -- Ghazni, south of the capital, Kabul -- were withheld because violence, intimidation and fraud were considered so rampant that election officials decided a fair tally was impossible.

Even as the Independent Election Commission was announcing the rest of the results, supporters of some candidates who had been disqualified days earlier by a watchdog body staged angry street demonstrations in Kabul and elsewhere. No serious violence was immediately reported.

Meanwhile, confusion reigned over a claim by the country's attorney general, Mohammad Ishaq Aloko -- whose jurisdiction in electoral matters is unclear -- that he had ordered the suspension of two senior election officials while they were investigated on possible criminal charges.



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