The drama of vote audit seems to be reaching to its conclusion; however, there is no strong optimism that the result would be welcomed by the presidential candidates. Currently, the vote audit is going on without the presence of the observers of both the candidates and about 83 percent of ballots have been audited so far. According to a statement by Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Sunday, August 31st, a total of 19,047 ballot boxes were audited as of Saturday evening.
On the other hand, IEC Chief, Mohammad Yusuf Nuristani told that more than 48,000 votes had been thrown away so far after four rounds of invalidation process. He added that the cancelled votes belonged to 3,457 normal and 459 special ballot boxes and they were invalidated in presence of national and international observers.
Of the ballot boxes, 48,019 votes cast in 236 boxes were declared as invalid, he said, but did not say for which candidate the invalidated ballots had been cast. According to the IEC, of the 5,000 ballot boxes, 1,837 were found with no problem, while 2,213 ballot boxes were put for recount. In its earlier three meetings, the election commission made public its decisions on 8,838 ballot boxes. Votes cast in 216 ballot boxes have been invalidated. But so far the exact number of invalidated ballot boxes is unclear.
Noor Mohammad Noor, the IEC spokesman, has mentioned that the recount of the remaining 3,781 ballot boxes would be completed as soon as possible in the presence of IEC officials, 104 UN observers, 216 national and 207 international observers.
If the recounting process is continued with the same pace, it would be possible to complete the vote audit by the end of first week of September. However, the question still remains about the acceptability of the results by the candidates.
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah withdrew his observers again from the process a few days earlier, claiming that the criteria that were agreed upon regarding the cancellation of ballot boxes were not maintained. And, it is not sure what would be his stand after the results are announced. However, the representatives of his party have mentioned that they would opt for political solution to the issue, if any arises.
Thus, for Afghan people, the good news of completion of vote audit may not prove to be very much joyful. They would again have to wait for the settlement of any sort of disagreement that may arise after the announcement of the result. Nonetheless, people seem too much tired of the lingering process and further delays regarding the formation of new government would test their nerves and patience for the democratic system. They had given their consent for a democratic form of government by participating in more than expected numbers in both rounds of presidential elections. However, what they experience is not a system that can guarantee them secure, certain and prosperous future. Rather, they are engulfed by the giant of ambiguity and unclear circumstances.
The performance of the Afghan leaders during the process of election and vote audit has not been very much mature. There have been few tussles between the members of both the party and on certain occasions the candidates have had confrontations as well. And, they have only been able to sit seriously on negotiation table with the support of US Secretary of State John Kerry. They have agreed on the formation of Unity government; nevertheless, there are serious concerns regarding making such a government practically possible. While finalizing the agreement, both the candidates had mentioned that they would be united for the sake of Afghanistan; however, such intentions are not seen with the same vigor today.
The government on the other hand has not been able to play a dominant and decisive role in this regard. Though government is not supposed to interfere in the election in a biased manner, it has all the options to facilitate negotiations between the two parties and strive seriously to eliminate disagreements between them. Even though, there have been some sessions between the two candidates facilitated by the Presidential Palace, a fruitful effort has yet to be seen. The government needs to reassess its role in the ongoing scenario and make sure it pursues all the options in addition to emphasizing on following the announcement of the results strictly.
Afghanistan has had high hopes from this presidential elections but it has been dominated by allegations of fraud, delay of the results and inappropriate attitude of our democratic leaders. However, there is still a margin of hope and improvement. From this point on, provided that our leaders behave wisely and with complete responsibility, it is possible to achieve important milestones towards a democratic state. The different spheres of life in the country are facing vagueness – the political stability is nowhere to be seen, the economy seems to be deteriorating with each passing day as the investors are not willing to invest in the present circumstances and the hopes and confidence of the people are fading away. All these factors can lead the country towards chaos and instability and all the endeavors of the last 12 years or so can be undone. Therefore, it is high time for us to stand tall and prove to the world that we have the determination and interest to change ourselves.