Final Afghan election results out
The process of counting and checking results from the parliamentary and provincial elections in Afghanistan in September has finally been completed.
An election official told the BBC that the election commission had certified results from Kandahar, the final province to be completed.
President Hamid Karzai's brother, Abdul Qayyum Karzai, has been elected to the lower house of parliament.
Meanwhile, councils are voting for their upper house representatives.
Results from the September election had already been published from 33 other provinces, but the results from Kandahar were delayed while officials checked fraud allegations.
The joint Afghan and United Nations election commission has now also certified results for the Kuchi - or nomad - population.
Vote-rigging
The BBC's Andrew North in Kabul says the length of time it has taken to check fraud allegations and finalise the election results has left many Afghans confused and suspicious.
In Kandahar, election officials say at least one candidate lost his place because of the discovery of widespread ballot-rigging.
However, the candidate's backers have complained of a vendetta against him, including from supporters of President Hamid Karzai, Andrew North reports.
Kandahar is President Karzai's home province and two of his brothers stood for election there.
One, Abdul Qayoom Karzai, won the most number of votes in the province for a parliamentary seat.
The other, Ahmed Wali Karzai, came top of the list for the provincial council.
Most candidates running in the elections stood as independents.
This means that it is hard to develop a picture of the overall political complexion of the new parliament.
But, political analyst Ali Amiri told Associated Press news agency: "The government [of Hamid Karzai] has the support of more than 50% in the parliament."
Upper house decisions
Meanwhile in an electoral process that began on Saturday, most of the provincial councils elected in September are choosing representatives for the upper house of parliament.
Each body has to vote for two people to sit in the 102-member upper house, or Meshrano Jirga.
This is the next stage Afghanistan's fledgling democracy, nearly three years after the fall of the Taleban.
Kandahar will vote for its representatives at a later stage. Helmand province is not voting at this time either.
Newly-elected provincial officials have to choose two-thirds of the members in the upper house of the new parliament from among their number.
The others will be appointed by President Karzai.
Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk
Published: 2005/11/12 16:21:17 GMT
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