UNAMA released a statement on Thursday to reiterate about the importance of transparent and fair elections in Afghanistan. The special focus in the press release was on need for the elections to be free from fraud.
“All citizens should play an active, informed and constructive role in rooting out fraud. Afghans deserve elections that are inclusive, credible, transparent and free from any activity that could taint the results,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.
The statement also clarified that the UN Mission acknowledges measures all the Afghan electoral authorities have put in place to detect fraud, “The introduction, for example, of a voting system in which voters can only cast their ballot at a single polling station at which they are registered is arguably the most significant step taken towards mitigating fraud. The planned implementation of a biometric voter verification system should also contribute to deter and identify fraud.”
“Fraud amounts to stealing the vote of a fellow Afghan citizen. This is unacceptable." — UN envoy Tadamichi Yamamoto in statement on the need for #Afghanistan elections free from fraud. More: https://t.co/yj6tkr8gec. pic.twitter.com/OMjUWiQvZX
— UNAMA News (@UNAMAnews) October 18, 2018
But UNAMA specially emphasised on the responsibility of candidates to prevent fraud and have an pointed out that the candidates have an “obligation to ensure that their supporters do not commit fraud in their name.”
Mr Yamamoto added that “Fraud is not in the interests of candidates; they will be associated with stealing votes and will have the credibility of their support undermined, so supporters should be clearly warned against this by the candidates themselves. No Afghan should tolerate fraud.”
Furthermore, the statement advised citizens to be vigilant and report anything they are suspicious of to the IECC. Finally, UNAMA was glad to announce that 400000 observers had been accredited to carry out election monitoring.
