The domestic observers, as well as candidates' agents and political party monitors will play an important role in the upcoming Afghan parliamentary elections scheduled on Saturday, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Tuesday.
On Monday, Tadamichi Yamamoto, special UN envoy and head of UN mission, met with some domestic observers in Kabul and noted the critical role that each observer can perform in the upcoming elections in deterring and preventing fraud, UNAMA said in a statement.
"Extensive and informed coverage by Afghan non-partisan observers and candidates' agents at the more than 5,000 polling centers is crucial," Yamamoto told the meeting.
"Their presence represents one of the most effective instruments to detect and deter fraud," he said.
The statement added that "more than 250,000 domestic observers, candidates' agents and political party monitors have sought accreditation to scrutinize the elections on 20 October. UNAMA encourages all eligible actors to actively engage in observing the elections and welcomes the high numbers of domestic observers that will be active on election day - among them several thousand who are women - along with party monitors and candidates' agents."
It said that all agents and observers should be well trained on the polling and counting procedures and adhere to the law and Code of Conduct while present at the polling stations.
"Afghan observers are the guardians of the electoral process," said Yamamoto, "while candidates bear the primary responsibility for preventing fraud by instructing their supporters not to commit fraud in their names."
"The United Nations is mandated to support Afghan authorities in technical issues around the electoral process. The UN in Afghanistan has no monitoring or observation mandate in the 20 October parliamentary election," the statement noted.
More than 2,500 candidates from 33 out of 34 provinces, excluding Ghazni, will stand for the parliament's 249 seats.
During the upcoming polls, nearly 9 million registered voters, including 3 million women, will cast their ballots to elect members of the Lower House of parliament for a five-year term.
Election officials recently canceled district councils election which was expected to be held together with the parliamentary polls.
