US Ambassador Alice Wells said on Wednesday that the United States supports the Independent Election Commission’s policy of counting only biometric votes.
She also confirmed with Afghan media that both President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah pledged to respect the independence of the Election Commission in its tallying of votes and eventual announcement of a winner.
Wells is the US State Department’s principal deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.
Speaking of her recent meeting with Afghan leaders, Wells said: “I underscored that we support the IEC and ECC’s effort to independently lead the electoral process without pressure or interference. I also welcomed the IEC’s reaffirmation of its policy to only count biometric votes,” said Wells.
Wells added that the US will continue backing Afghanistan in its strides towards peace and self-sustainability.
“I had a very productive visit to Afghanistan, emphasizing the United States government’s commitment to partner with Afghans who are working towards peace, self-sustainability and a transparent election, process,” Wells stated on Wednesday.
She also called on the Afghan election organization to ensure the transparency of the elections.
“In my meeting with President Ghani and CEO Dr. Abdullah, commissioners of the IEC and ECC and independent election observers, I underlined that Afghans who risk their lives to cast their ballots and to protect voters’ expect the process to be transparent,” said Wells.
On the Afghan peace process, Wells said: “While the administration reviews its next steps in support of a political settlement to the conflict, Afghan men and women from all sectors of society– the government, private enterprise, tribal leaders and activists–should continue to work toward a consensus on peace to ensure that they are able to take advantage of opportunities to advance a negotiated political settlement,”.
She also called on the presidential candidate to abide by their commitments.
She said the US wants both President Ghani and Abdullah to ensure fighting corruption and strengthening governance and that the US was still committed to its partnership with Afghanistan.
“The international community continues to expect all candidates to honor their code of conduct within the electoral process, and to not make claims of election results in advance of the IEC,” she said.
On corruption, Wells remarked: “To both the president and the Chief Executive I underscored that Afghanistan needs to do more to counter corruption and strengthen governance. The United States is committed to its partnership with Afghanistan. But the United States government and the Afghan people expect that the government will use the public and donor funds to provide services, justice and economic opportunity.”
