On Sunday, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) of Afghanistan announced the second partial result of presidential election based on 49.67% vote count. That indicates that about 3 million votes have already been counted. Needless to mention that these votes have been verified by the IEC and reflect partial result of the votes casted in all provinces of Afghanistan. Formerly, the IEC had announced 10% of the election results but was accompanied with some criticisms.

Based on the current election results once more Dr. Abdullah Abdullah is leading with 44.4% followed by Dr. Ashraf GhaniAhmadzia and Dr. ZulmaiRasoul at 33.2% and 10.2% respectively. In the first partial result there was a minor difference between the results of Abdullah and Ghani. However, the new results indicate a huge difference of 11.2% between the results of the two.

Now it is much clear that Dr. Abdullah has secured more votes among all eight presidential contenders. Regardless of whether election will go into the second round, the candidate that will lead the preliminary results due on 24 April and final results due on 14 May will most probably be Dr. Abdullah. And if the election goes into the second round, it is quite clear that the race will be between Dr. Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani while the other candidates including Dr. Zalmai Rasoul will have to make alliance with one of these two leading candidates.

The announcement of second partial results which covers almost 50% of all votes cast on 5 April presidential election establishes the IEC is trying to meet its schedule. It is hoped that preliminary and final results will be announced on set dates. In the latest election, the IEC has shown better performance so far. The electoral bodies of the country have the crucial tasks of transparent vote count, looking into electoral complaints and announcing the results on time.

While the IEC and Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) have vital responsibilities before the nation, the presidential candidates must also respect decision made by the people. The same has been emphasized by certain political circles both inside and outside the country. The people of Afghanistan want all the presidential candidates to accept the results announced by the IEC so that democracy can be further strengthened in the country and chaos can be avoided.