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Saturday, November 14, 2026Nov 14

Afghan presidential contender threatens boycott

Afghan election commission workers sort ballots for an audit of the presidential run-off votes at an election commission office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 25, 2014. Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai said in a statement that the inauguration ceremony for the next country's president will be held on September 2, 2014 and it is not subject to change. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
Afghan election commission workers sort ballots for an audit of the presidential run-off votes at an election commission office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 25, 2014. Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai said in a statement that the inauguration ceremony for the next country's president will be held on September 2, 2014 and it is not subject to change. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – An adviser to a leading Afghan presidential contender, Abdullah Abdullah, says the candidate is threatening to boycott the country’s ballot audit, which has been mired in obstacles.

The complicated, U.N.-supervised audit of the 8 million votes from the June presidential runoff has been underway in Kabul for weeks.

The process followed allegations of vote fraud on both sides and is meant to decide whether Abdullah, a former foreign minister, or former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai will replace President Hamid Karzai.

Fazel Ahmad Manawi told reporters on Tuesday that if Abdullah’s concerns are not addressed by Wednesday morning, he would pull out of the audit.

Manawi said the election commission ignored their complaints about fraudulent ballots.