News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

KABUL - Large billboards, posters and all kinds of publicity materials are starting to decorate the famous corners of the streets of Kabul as the elections race gets underway. The official campaign period for Afghanistan’s presidential and provincial council elections has just started and lasts…

KABUL - I welcome today’s statement by the Independent Election Commission reaffirming 20 August as the date of Afghanistan’s 2009 presidential and provincial council elections. This date will provide the time needed for the IEC with the support of the international community to make practical and…

2 November 2009 - I welcome today’s decision by Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission to forego a run-off vote and to declare Hamid Karzai as the winner of the 2009 presidential elections. I congratulate President Karzai. This has been a difficult election process for Afghanistan and lessons…

KABUL - With Abdullah Abdullah, the challenger to President Hamid Karzai in next week's run-off, withdrawing from the race, the top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan today expressed hope that the elections will be wrapped up shortly. The 7 November run-off was announced late last month after the…

1 November 2009 - Dr Abdullah has decided today not to participate in the second round of Afghanistan’s presidential election. This is clearly a decision he has taken after a long period of discussion and reflection. The next step must be to bring this electoral process to a conclusion in a legal…

KABUL - With a second election just around the corner, the Media Commission is back in business. John Matisonn, one of the four commissioners, however, insists the media watchdog never closed its eyes. "We never stopped watching the media. We have been monitoring the news throughout, even after…

KABUL - The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has begun flying out election kits to different provinces across Afghanistan in preparation for the 7 November presidential poll. The 6,000 kits contain ballot papers, indelible ink, and voter card punches and will be packed and sent to some of the…

KABUL - The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) today issued their third joint-political rights monitoring report related to the 20 August elections. This report, which covers the period from 1 August to 21 October…

NEW YORK - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today pledged the full support of the United Nations to ensure that Afghanistan’s presidential election run-off is as credible as possible and welcomed President Hamid Karzai’s acceptance of a second round of voting. “The United Nations will do its utmost for…

19 October 2009 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai today discussed the latest developments concerning the recent elections, as the United Nations-backed panel investigating claims of fraud submitted its findings to the country’s top electoral authority. “The Secretary…

KABUL - The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) today gave its orders to Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) on three different decisions, namely: quarantined stations, 'Category-A' complaints, and the audit of suspicious ballot boxes. Last month, the ECC decided to take a closer…

KABUL - The auditing of 358 suspicious ballot boxes from Afghanistan’s 20 August presidential elections began today. The Independent Election Commission (IEC), with oversight by the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), started examining the ballot boxes at its headquarters in Kabul. The process…