Afghanistan’s parliamentary election results to be released on Friday
Today, Afghanistan’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is expected to release the results of last month’s parliamentary election for 32 of 34 provinces. The results for the remaining two provinces, including Kabul, are expected to be announced on December 1.
It is unclear what today’s results will reveal, but with independents accounting for 165 of 249 seats in Afghanistan’s current parliament, a similar looking legislature is expected. Afghanistan’s major parties run on ethnic loyalties, limiting country-wide appeal. As such, today’s “winner” may fail to obtain even 20 seats.
With the vote itself marred by violence and technical difficulties, any dispute of today’s results, particularly by Afghanistan’s upper house, could compromise the vote’s legitimacy and set a dangerous precedent ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Questions over the IEC’s impartiality or legitimacy today would provide a powerful weapon to the losers of next year’s vote. A contested result in the presidential election would be a terrible outcome for Afghanistan as it grapples with a resurgent Taliban and struggles to get its democracy off the ground.
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