KABUL: (Middle East Press) The US Special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman arrived in Afghanistan on Wednesday as the election audit was held back by Dr. Abdullah’s decision not pariticipate in the process.
The US Department of State following a statement said Feldman arrived in Afghanistan on August 27 to follow up on Secretary Kerry’s recent visits and phone calls to support the Afghan electoral process.
The statement further added that Special Representative Feldman met both of the candidates and other key stakeholders, including the United Nations.
Special envoy Feldman reiterated the need to conclude the electoral process in a timely way that honors the millions of votes cast by the Afghan people and provides the legality for a government of national unity to govern a self-governing, unified, and democratic Afghanistan, the statement added.
The election audit remained suspended for almost seven hours on Wednesday due to the absence of Dr. Abdullah’s observer in the premises of election commission.
Abdullah’s chief observer, Fazal Ahmad Mawani, warned on Tuesday that they boycott the vote audit process, claiming that the audit process was not translucent and influenced by politics.
Manawi told reporters on Tuesday that their camp has set new conditions for the audit and invalidation process, and insisted that their demands must be met by Wednesday morning or else their camp will reject the audit process.