KABUL - Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) presented President-Elect Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai the winner certificate on Friday, endorsing his win in the 2014 presidential race.

The engraved wooden, glazed plaque inscribed that Ghani won with 55.27 percent of total votes; a total 3.93 million votes out of 7.12 million votes, a number dissimilar to IEC Chief Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani's proclaimed 8 million in the June 14 runoff.

Nuristani, before bestowing the certificate to Ghani, apologized to the nation for the protracted elections and emphasized that the election commission was not the sole actors of fraud, "but the electoral camps were involved too."

"People of Afghanistan must know that the IEC was not the only institution involved in fraud," he said. "Fraud was wide-ranging."

He went on to add that the nation paid a heavy price for the presidential candidates to reach a just system and with that he called on President-Elect Ghani to the stage to accept the certificate.

Ghani began by emphasizing that he and his administration will be accountable for every ballot cast under his name, declaring that "we are a nation, not divided people."

"There should not be any doubts in our national unity," he said with importance. "The national unity government is not a share of power, but a share of duties."

He congratulated outgoing President Hamid Karzai on a peaceful transition of power from one elected president to another.

"The political transition was a success and all those who predicted otherwise were proven wrong."

Touching on what Nuristani stated earlier in regards to future elections, Ghani said that the past must be put aside and "work toward a future where the elections are transparent."

Before stepping down the stage, Ghani made one last statement as he prepares to embark on his presidential journey beginning Monday—the inauguration ceremony: "This plaque presented to me by the IEC is the sign of the people. The strong will of the people." (Tolonews)