Kabul, Afghanistan (BBN)- Afghanistan’s upcoming parliamentary polls will be “far from” perfect, but they should be much less marred by fraud than last year’s presidential elections, the top United Nations envoy to the country said on Tuesday.
Due to the efforts of the Afghan authorities and the Independent Election Commission (IEC), “we feel they are going to be much better than the previous ones,” Staffan de Mistura, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative, told reporters on the day in the capital Kabul, ahead of the 18 September polls.
He said that it is “almost a miracle” that elections are going to be held so soon after last year’s presidential elections, eventually won by incumbent President Hamid Karzai, were dogged by widespread fraud.
The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), he said, has been “renewed” with a new chair and two international members.
Additionally, additional security arrangements have been made to ensure the integrity of elections materials – such as ballots, tamper-proof bags and ink – the envoy pointed out.
Addressing the same press conference, Fazal Ahmad Manawi, chair of the IEC, told journalists that the ink to be used in upcoming elections is 25 per cent silver nitrate, the compound that stains the skin, compared to between 10 and 18 per cent in ink used for elections around the world.
BBN/SI/AD-15Sept10-10:30 am (BST)