Attorney General Warns IEC to Stop Issuing Poll Certificates

Afghanistan's Attorney General has called on the Independent Election Commission to immediately stop issuing Certification Letters to the winning candidates

Certificates issued to candidates who have been declared winners through electoral fraud will not be considered valid, Deputy Attorney General, Rahmatullah Nazari said at a press conference.

"When a candidate is announced winner and gets a certificate, the certificate has no validity. Attorney General's investigations haven't ended yet and we seriously work on it," said Mr Nazari. "During the next week we will go to the commissions to inquire about votes of the candidates and then all probe papers will be submitted to the High Court for a decision."

Some protesting candidates Monday gathered outside Attorney General's Office and each submit their complaints to the office.

The protesting candidates called on the Attorney General to seriously address their complaints.

Despite widespread protests against the announcement of final poll results, the Independent Election Commission defied criticisms and started distribution of certificates to the winning candidates today.

Mr Manawi described the parliamentary poll as a victory for the commission. He emphasised that IEC's work is fully in accordance with the Election Law.

At the same time, President's Office denied the Afghan government's interference in the affairs of electoral commissions.

The spokesman for President Karzai, Wahid Omar said: "the same as President Karzai does not intervene in the work of Independent Election Commission; he will not meddle in the work of Attorney General's Office."

Some losing candidates and their supporters have been staging demonstrations in the last fews weeks calling for the vote to be cancelled, but Head of the IEC, in a latest exclusive interview, told TOLOnews that some of the demonstrations are organised by elements within the government.