Afghanistan 2014: Top election official resigns over fraud claims

Senior Afghan election official Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail at the centre of fraud claims in the presidential run-off vote has resigned.

Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail said he was stepping down “for the sake of national unity”, denying allegations of ballot box-stuffing earlier this month.

His resignation comes after audio tapes were released allegedly revealing that Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail was trying to influence the outcome of the vote.

They were published by the camp of one of the candidates – Abdullah Abdullah.

However, Abdullah Abdullah’s rival Ashraf Ghani has also made allegations of fraud.

Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail’s resignation comes after audio tapes were released allegedly revealing that he was trying to influence the outcome of the vote

The official results of the June 14 run-off are yet to be published.

In a dramatic turn of events on Monday, Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail tendered his resignation on national television.

He vehemently denied any wrongdoing, saying he had been the victim of a plot.

Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail also described the tapes as “fake” and blamed the country’s security services for interfering in the election.

In an apparent reference to ballot box-stuffing, the tapes appear to show Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail urging a colleague to “bring the sheep stuffed and not empty”.

The reference to sheep and goats – ballot boxes and people or votes – is made several times during the recorded exchanges.

Reacting to the latest developments, Abdullah Abdullah said the resignation of Zia ul-Haq Amarkhail had opened the door for discussions with Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission.

Abdullah Abdullah also said his recent decision to stop co-operating with the election authorities had not been intended to disrupt the process, but to prevent a fraudulent election result and to protect people’s votes.

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Diane A. Wade

Diane is a perfectionist. She enjoys searching the internet for the hottest events from around the world and writing an article about it. The details matter to her, so she makes sure the information is easy to read and understand. She likes traveling and history, especially ancient history. Being a very sociable person she has a blast having barbeque with family and friends.

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