KABUL - Afghan election officials announced most of the long-delayed results from a Sept. 18 parliamentary poll on Wednesday, but the angry protests further clouded the poll. The credibility of the result will weigh heavily on US President Barack Obama's review of his Afghanistan war strategy, due next month, amid rising violence and sagging public support, especially after a fraud-marred presidential election last year. Consistent allegations of vote fraud in both polls have raised questions about the credibility of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government at a time when US and NATO officials have been re-examining their long-term commitment in Afghanistan. Wednesday's events will not have helped that process. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) had promised to release full results more than 10 weeks after the poll but IEC Chairman Fazl Ahmad Manawi said results in volatile Ghazni province southwest of Kabul had still to be determined. The other 33 provinces plus one seat for Kuchi nomads were announced. IEC spokeswoman Marzia Siddiqi Salim said, without Ghazni's 11 allocated seats, 238 places in the 249-seat wolesi, jirga, or lower house, had been decided. “It might be in a week,” Siddiqi said when asked when a new parliament would be formed. Manawi also said another three winning candidates had been disqualified over irregularities, taking the total thrown out by the IEC to 24. Despite the widespread concerns about fraud, and calls by protesters for the vote to be annulled, Manawi said there would not be another election. “We are not planning to hold another election in any place,” Manawi told a news conference. Disgruntled candidates, lawmakers and supporters have in recent weeks called for the September poll to be scrapped. Dozens took to the streets of Kabul on Wednesday to protest against a polling process they say was corrupt and shameful. About 150 people gathered outside Karzai's palace. Some carried banners saying “Hijacked parliament = collapse of democracy” and “IEC is the enemy of democracy”. Riot police looked on and roads around the palace were blocked. “Blocking the road and launching violence because they have not got a seat is not the right thing to do and is a malicious act against the country,” Karzai said. Widespread Fraud The protesters, mostly disgruntled candidates and their supporters, have warned that failure to address grievances about the poll would push Afghans towards the insurgency. “It doesn't matter who is winning or losing, we will continue to protest until the officials in the government hear us and the Afghan people learn about the widespread fraud that happened during this election,” said lawmaker Noor ul Haq Olomi, from southern Kandahar province, the Taliban's heartland. About 2,500 candidates ran for the 249 available seats. A UN-backed watchdog said on Sunday nearly one in 10 winning candidates had been disqualified for fraud. Those disqualifications by the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) cleared the way for the IEC to release final results. There were more than 6,000 complaints lodged with ECC and the IEC has already thrown out almost a quarter of the 5.6 million votes cast as invalid. The IEC is also being investigated by the attorney general's office over election fraud. Late on Tuesday, Afghan media reported two election officials — one each from the IEC and ECC — had been suspended by the attorney general's office for “making statements against the national interest”. Manawi described the reports as “unfortunate”.
