Downing Street Says » Afghanistan

Asked when the Prime Minister had spoken to President Karzai, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had spoken to him this morning and had been in touch over the weekend with a number of people. He had spoken to Senator Kerry, who was working on behalf of the President and Secretary of State.

The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) had passed its instructions to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the Afghanistan body, and it was now for the IEC to consider what had been passed to them and then to produce at the right moment a final certified election result.

Put that the Prime Minister had spoken to both candidates last week and had he discussed the possibility of a coalition government, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister s overriding concern was to see the process run its course. The Prime Minister felt that all parties had and should continue to respect that process. We were now at a stage where we had moved forward in that we could now await the final certified election result.

Put that the PMS had spoken about the ECC passing its instructions and could that term be clarified, the PMS said that instructions were related to the number of invalid votes that might have been cast.

Asked if he thought the IEC had any leeway in assessing what the ECC had sent to it, the PMS replied that it was for the IEC to review the data it had received and then to announce what the result was. Asked whether the IEC could rejig the results it was given, the PMS said that was not his understanding and would fly in the face of a proper electoral process.

Asked if it was his understanding that the results went below 50% for President Karzai, the PMS said that he did not know what the result was yet. If the result was to go below 50% then it could lead to discussions about a second round rather than a straight victory, but people would have to wait and see what the certified result was.

Asked if the Prime Minister thought a coalition government would be a way out of this situation, the PMS said that we had to take this process step-by-step. It was significant that the information had been passed to the IEC but people would need to wait for the result. Put that the process seemed to be reactive rather than proactive, the PMS said that this was the Afghan election process.

Two bodies had been put in place and asked to both oversee and supervise the election process. The most important thing was that there was a credible and effective government that emerged as a result of this process.

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» Monday, October 19, 2009

Afghanistan

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