Candidate spokesman: Afghan VP backs president’s rival in August election

September 15th, 2009 EU pushing for investigation of Afghan electionBRUSSELS — German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says the EU is pushing for an investigation of "all fraud allegations" during Afghanistan's elections. His call reflects increasing European Union concerns over the August election.

September 15th, 2009 Recount ordered at 10 percent of Afghan vote sitesKABUL — A top election official says vote tallies from about 10 percent of Afghanistan's polling stations need to be recounted because of possible irregularities in the country's Aug. 20 presidential election.

September 10th, 2009 STOCKHOLM - The European Union Thursday said it backed a complete investigation into "allegations of fraud" in connection with the recent presidential elections in Afghanistan. The EU said it supported the work by the UN-backed Election Complaints Commission ECC to "safeguard the credibility of the elections," the statement issued by Sweden, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, said.

September 8th, 2009 US: Sorting out Afghan vote could take monthsWASHINGTON — The State Department is saying it could take months to sort out the many allegations of vote fraud in the Aug. 20 Afghan presidential election.

September 7th, 2009 Karzai says US 'attacking' him over electionPARIS — Afghan President Hamid Karzai says in an interview published in France that the United States is attacking him because it wants to him to be more "docile." Karzai's re-election bid has faced controversy over alleged fraud. Le Figaro newspaper quotes him as saying that fraud is "inevitable in a budding democracy." He says Americans who are "attacking Karzai secretly" are wrong to do so — and it's in no one's interest for the Afghan president to be a U.S.

August 22nd, 2009 KABUL - Election monitors from the European Union Saturday described the Afghan presidential elections as "largely positive". Two days after the elections, the European Union Election Observation Mission to Afghanistan, in a statement, welcomed the elections "as a victory against those who wanted to prevent the Afghan people from deciding their own future".

August 21st, 2009 KABUL - Afghanistan's election commission said Friday that it was too early to declare victory in the presidential election as the two leading candidates both claimed themselves the winner and said no runoff would be necessary. "No one can be declared the winner before the official result is announced by us," said Noor Mohammad Noor, spokesman for the Independent Election Commission.

August 13th, 2009 Karzai orders Afghan forces election cease-fireKABUL — Afghanistan's president says he's ordering Afghan security forces to observe a cease-fire during the upcoming election day. Hamid Karzai also demanded Taliban fighters not carry out violence during next Thursday's vote.

June 27th, 2009 KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed concern Saturday over the presence of a US diplomat at a press meet of a key rival in the country's upcoming August elections, saying it amounted to interference in the electoral process. Karzai described as "a sensitive issue" the presence of Karl Eikenberry, US ambassador to Afghanistan, earlier this month at a press conference at which former foreign minister and presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah announced his platform of decentralising the government.

June 11th, 2009 TEHRAN - Friday's presidential elections in Iran are gradually turning into a referendum on incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. According to surveys, the three challengers are more likely to benefit from protest votes against Ahmadinejad rather than votes in their favour.

May 18th, 2009 LUCKNOW - The Lok Sabha election results in Uttar Pradesh may have come as a surprise to various political parties but the state has kept up its tradition of not favouring independents, with only one such candidate elected to parliament, as in previous polls. As many as 563 independent candidates contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in the state but rebel Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former state chief minister Kalyan Singh was the only one to have won.

May 16th, 2009 SRINAGAR - The National Conference-Congress combine was leading in four of the six Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir till 2 p.m. Saturday. NC leader Farooq Abdullah is leading in the Srinagar seat over his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival Moulvi Ifftekhar Ansari by more than 32,000 votes.

May 10th, 2009 KABUL - Forty-four candidates, including two women, have registered for the Aug 20 presidential elections in Afghanistan, officials said Saturday. To register, a candidate has to deposit about $1,000 to the election committee and submit at least 10,000 signatures endorsing the candidate.

May 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission Saturday censured Akhilesh Das, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Lucknow constituency on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket, for making derogatory remarks about his rival and Samajwadi Party candidate Nafisa Ali. 'Election Commission is of the considered opinion that Dr.

March 1st, 2009 KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered in a decree Saturday that the country's presidential poll, which had been slated for August, be held in April. The Afghan Election Commission will therefore conduct presidential, parliamentary, provincial council, district council and municipality elections in accordance with the constitution, the decree said.