Initial results of Afghan parliament polls announced

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

The election commission in Afghanistan has announced the preliminary results of the last month’s landmark parliamentary elections in the country.

According to a statement by the commission, results from five provinces -- Daikundi, Farah, Uruzgan, Jawzjan and Bamiyan -- have been finalized and published.

Among others, Batur Dostum, a son of vice president Abdul Rasheed Dostum, has made it to the parliament from their native Jawzjan province.

Baktash Eschi, a son of Ahmad Eschi, a political rival of the Dostum family in their ethnic Uzbek community, has also won the seat in the parliamenent from the same province.

In the face of grim security challenges, political differences and persistent technical glitches, the election commission managed to hold the parliamentary elections in 33 out of 34 provinces of the country last month. The long-due polls were not held in restive Ghazni province over political differences.

The elections were due three years ago, but persistent issues kept them lingering till October, 2018.

In a special report titled “2018 Elections Violence,” the UN mission in Afghanistan noted the Taliban launched deliberate campaign of violence and intimidation to disrupt the elections, resulting in record high numbers of civilians killed and injured on an election day.

The report verified a total of 435 civilian casualties (56 deaths and 379 injured) during the process.