Abdullah strengthens Afghan poll lead to 11 points
Sunday, 20 April 2014
KABUL: Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah is leading Ashraf Ghani in Afghanistan’s presidential election by 11 percentage points after half of the ballots were counted, officials said Sunday, with a run-off vote likely next month.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said Abdullah was on 44.4 per cent with former World Bank economist Ghani on 33.2 per cent of the ballots so far counted from April 5, when eight candidates contested the race to succeed Hamid Karzai.
If no single candidate gains more than 50 per cent of the vote, a run-off between the two leading names is tentatively scheduled for May 28.
The 2009 poll was marred by massive fraud, and hundreds of serious allegations of cheating are being investigated after the latest election, according to a news agency.