Campaign for the Afghan presidential election was kicked off on Sunday in which 18 candidates, including President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, are running for president. 

The campaign will conclude on September 25.

A statement of the Independent Election Commission said the campaign would conclude 48 hours before voting. 

Commission vowed transparency in the upcoming presidential election and called on all eligible voters to use their franchise in favor of their favorite candidates on election day.

“We want them [presidential candidates] to respect the [election] law [during their campaigns],” the chairperson of the election commission, Hawa Alam Nuristani, said.

The upcoming presidential election scheduled for September 28 will be the fourth election in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

On the first day of the election campaign, President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah addressed their supporters at separate gatherings. 

The ministries of Defense and Interior on Saturday announced that the security agencies have started implementing the security plan for the upcoming elections. 

Interior Ministry’s spokesman Nusrat Rahimi at a press conference said the plan covers the safety of presidential candidates during their campaigns, the security of polling centers across the country and the transfer of sensitive election material after the end of the election day.   

“The areas with serious threats have been identified and all the three security agencies have started actions in this regard and operations will be launched in certain areas,” the Defense Ministry’s spokesman Rohullah Ahmadzai told reporters on Saturday. 

Based on the election commission’s timeline, preliminary results will be announced on October 19 and the final results will be announced on November 7.