The final results of the provincial council elections were due sometime this week; however, election management bodies on Wednesday reported that there is a possibility that the results will be announced next week instead.
The results have constantly been delayed, provoking criticism from candidates who blame the mismanagement of election commissions, adding that with consideration of the technical issues and the complaints, there is possibility that the results will not be announced within two weeks.
"With the consideration of corruption and extensive cases of frauds, there is no guarantee what direction the election results will move toward," Kabul provincial council candidate Shoaib Waziri said.
Based on the election timeline, the results were initially due four months ago but the deadline changed several times. The election management bodies stated that the main reason behind the delay was the audit process of the presidential elections.
"The final results of the provincial council's elections were delayed because of the 100 percent vote audit," acting Chief Secretariat of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) Jawed Habibi said.
The spokesman for the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) Nadir Mohseni added that the commission will "possibly dispatch the final decisions to the election commission today [Wednesday] or tomorrow [Thursday]."
People believe that the political disagreements were central factors that delayed the final results of the presidential elections, but emphasize that mismanagement and corruption were main reasons behind the delay.
"The election commissions lack management abilities," another Kabul provincial candidate Hazrat Rashid said.
About 2,713 people ran for the provincial councils, including 308 women. On the basis of election law, 458 seats are reserved for provincial councils nationwide, 96 of which are reserved for women.
This comes at a time that a number of political analysts have accused the election management bodies of playing a role in the presidential electoral impasse, asking for the prosecution of officials responsible.
