Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Abdullah Supporters Continue Protests in Kabul

Abdullah Supporters Continue Protests in Kabul

KABUL - Crowds in the hundreds marched through Kabul on Saturday, continuing a spell of public demonstrations that has followed in the wake of claims made by presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah regarding fraud in last week's runoff election.

Although concerns around fraud exist outside of Abdullah's camp, the protesters on Saturday were organized in solidarity this his decision to boycott the Independent Election Commission (IEC), which he claims helped engineer fraud with the aid of the Afghan government in favor of his opponent, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.

The protestors on Saturday demanded that election officials ensure their votes are respected and valid votes are distinguished from fraudulent onjes.

"We will defend our vote," one protestor said. "We will not allow fraud to shape our destiny, but the government and election commissions are quiet and not doing anything."

Although the protests were peaceful, some participants used threatening language, only further fueling concerns that this year's election process faces the danger of deteriorating into a serious political conflict.

"We will defend our vote till the last drop of blood in our bodies,"

one protestor told TOLOnews. "This is the third time that our rights are taken, once in 2009 and twice during these elections," he added.

The 2009 presidential election that re-elected President Hamid Karzai was marred by electoral irregularities. In the end, despite making similar claims as this year, then second-place candidate Abdullah Abdullah declined to enter a runoff and conceded the race.

On Saturday, groups of Afghan women participated in the demonstrations. They, like their fellow male protestors, called for officials involved in fraud to be held accountable.

"Those who committed fraud must be tried; Amarkhail and other government officials involved in fraud must be removed from their position and tried," one female demonstrator said.

Zia-ul-Haq Amarkahil, the IEC's Secretariat Chief, was implicated in vote rigging on Election Day when his convoy was stopped leaving the IEC's headquarters loaded with blank ballots. Although election officials have come to his defense, Abdullah has called for his suspension.

Amarkhail spoke at a press conference on Saturday afternoon, in a showing of his continued good-standing at the IEC. He assured that all complaints regarding fraud would be rigorously reviewed by the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC).

The demonstrations moved around the city, including stops outside the Presidential Palace, the International Airport and the IEC's office.

For residents who didn't take part in the protests, they simply proved an inconvenience.

"This traffic rush has really annoyed us, I have been here for over an hour with my family," Ajmal, a driver caught in traffic said.

Pro-Abdullah protests were reported in Kunduz as well.

Part of the demands being made by protestors on Saturday was that the United Nations take action as a independent mediator of the disputed election results.

The Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) assured that no chaos would occur and that Afghan security forces have the protests under control.

"We are certain that the situation will not be chaotic, the security forces have the situation under control," Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said. "There is a great deal of cooperation between security forces and the groups behind the protests." (Tolonews)