KABUL - Presidential candidates, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani, have indicated to the United Nations that they support the Independent Election Commission (IEC) adopting the UN proposal for a regulatory decision covering criteria for recounts and invalidations of ballots as part of the ongoing comprehensive audit of the country’s Presidential election run-off.

The United Nations had presented its proposal to the IEC on 24 July in the context of the technical agreement reached by the two Presidential candidates, which asked the UN to propose the manner for the supervision of the audit.

Both candidates indicated to the United Nations that they had their own respective concerns with the proposal, but were prepared to proceed with it as a good faith effort based on international best practice to bridge their positions.

Dr. Abdullah and Dr. Ghani expressed their shared view that it was in the national interest to finalise the regulatory framework of the audit.

The United Nations welcomes the statesmanship shown by the candidates in coming to this difficult decision as well as the sincere engagement by their technical teams in the preparation of the UN proposal. Based on this support from the two parties and recognising the legal mandate of the IEC, the UN now encourages the IEC Board to rapidly meet and adopt the necessary regulatory decisions so that the next stage of the audit can commence. (PR)