...

Afghan tribunal asks Karzai to delay parliament session

Other News Materials 19 January 2011 12:50 (UTC +04:00)
A special tribunal asked Afghan President Hamid Karzai Wednesday to delay the opening of parliament for one month so it could further investigate the results of elections tainted by fraud allegations.
Afghan tribunal asks Karzai to delay parliament session

A special tribunal asked Afghan President Hamid Karzai Wednesday to delay the opening of parliament for one month so it could further investigate the results of elections tainted by fraud allegations, DPA reported.

Sediqullah Haqiq, head of the special court appointed by Karzai to look into alleged fraud during the September parliamentary polls, said his team was sifting through 430 complaints and that it needed more time to thoroughly investigate them.

The political situation in Afghanistan has been in limbo for months as allegations of fraud and voting irregularities delayed the announcement of the elections' final results, stopping the winning legislators from taking their seats.

Election commissions threw out around a quarter of more than 5 million votes cast during the September 18 voting and declared 249 winners after disqualifying 24 preliminary victors.

The polling authorities' decision sparked demonstrations by losing candidates, who demanded a new round of elections. Afghanistan's attorney general also called for an annulment of the election results.

Last month, Karzai appointed the special tribunal of the Supreme Court to look into the fraud complaints.

The presidential palace said this week that Karzai postponed the opening of parliament until Sunday because of his visit to Russia on Thursday.

There was no immediate reaction by the palace regarding the new demand by the special tribunal.

Latest

Latest