United Nations:
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said Afghan President Hamid Karzai has assured him that he will "fully respect" the constitutional process after fraud investigators threw out nearly a third of his votes from the country's August election.
Ban spoke to Karzai over phone after a UN- backed panel decided to cut the President's share of the vote to 48 per cent, below the threshold for an outright win.
"The Secretary-General urged Karzai to respect the constitutional process, and he was pleased to hear that the President will fully respect the constitutional order," Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters here.
The incumbent president needs more than 50 per cent votes to win another five years in office. But the UN-backed panel has decided to cut the President's share of the vote to 48 per cent, which could lead to a run off election between him and his chief opponent Abdullah Abdullah.
The Election Complaints Commission has already submitted its findings to the Independent Election Commission, which will now determine whether a run-off is needed. The IEC,
however, has not made a formal declaration on their findings.
"It is for the Independent Electoral Commission to take the orders of the ECC and apply them to the preliminary results and draw a new tally and announce final certified results; that has not happened yet," Montas said.
A run-off election is predicted to be thwarted with difficulties and security risks.
But, Montas said if the situation demanded then there would be second round of voting despite any challenges that such an exercise might invite.
"A credible government is needed. If a second round is called for, we need to scrupulously abide by the law," he said.
UN appointed the Election Complaints Commission to probe into wide-spread allegations of fraud in the August elections.