Presidential candidate Rahmatullah Nabil at a press conference in Kabul on Monday stressed the need for sorting out the fraudulent votes from the current total number of votes, and he said fraud will not be tolerated.

During his speech, Nabil called out a “certain election campaign team” multiple times, saying it has committed “large-scale fraud” and is trying to gain power through “rigging and fraud.” But he added that everyone has a responsibility to stand against such acts. 

Nabil said some “circles in government” claim to support the democratic system but they “want to remain in power by making deals.” 

According to him, “$180 million” was used from the country’s treasury in the election by a “certain campaign team.”

The presidential elections were held on Sept. 28. The preliminary results of the elections are scheduled to be announced on Nov. 14, according to the Independent Election Commission, which started the vote recount process on Sunday. 

Nabil said that all Afghans, from every corner of the country, should stand against fraud, and against those who are trying to commit fraud, and they should stay united in deciding their fate.  Otherwise, he said, efforts will continue to cut deals with the people’s fate, while the people are sacrificing their lives every day.

“There are over one million fraudulent votes. Who has done this and who tried to hack the server?” Nabil asked. “Where are the missing biometric devices? All of the devices have GPS. As I was NDS chief, I know they can find the devices exactly.”

According to the Election Commission, over 26,000 biometric devices were used on election day. So far, the total number of votes is more than 1.8 million.

Nabil, who served as the head of the National Directorate of Security during the 2014 elections, said the experience of the last election was “bitter” and should not be repeated again. He stated that reaching for power through “fraud” will move Afghanistan towards “certain collapse.”