KABUL - The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) on Tuesday reported that open investigation of complaints in regard to the Provincial Council (PC) will start next week. The commission announced that it would share the final results with the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on June 12--instead of the initial expected date of June 4.

"We will start assessing the complaints next week," ECC Secretary Nadir Mohseni said. "We will assess each zone separately and share the final results with IEC on June 12."

According to ECC officials, the assessments will begin with the northwestern zone which includes Samangan, Balk, Jawozjan, Sar-e-Pul and Faryab provinces. Afterwards, the northeastern provinces of Baghlan, Badakhshan, Takhar and Kunduz and the south and southwestern provinces of Kandahar, Zabul, Urozgan and Ghor; the southwestern provinces of Herat, Badghis, Nimroz, Farah and Helamand; and the east and the southeastern provinces of Nanghar, Laghman, kunar, Nuristan, Paktia, Paktikia and Khost will follow through.

Assessment of the central zone will start later in the week in Kabul, Kapisa, Parwan, Wardak, Logar, Panjsher, Bamian, Ghazni and Daikondi provinces.

ECC stated the high number of complaints filed against the candidates as the main reason behind the delay. The commission declared that it needs more time to investigate all the cases.

"There are more than 3000 complaints about the provincial councils," Mohseni said. "ECC must thoroughly assess them all."

Additionally, ECC asked the runoff candidates to respect the election laws and procedures and maintain the legitimacy and credibility of the campaigns. (Tolonews)