Some of Afghanistan’s mainstream political leaders and former mujahideen figures on Thursday vowed to defy the establishment of a government arising from electoral fraud.

Among the main critics was CE Abdullah Abdullah, who reiterated that he will always defend the valid votes of the Afghan people.

I say with confidence, commitment and firmness that I will defend the votes of the people of Afghanistan, said Abdullah.

This comes as the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) prepares to assess electoral complaints.

Meanwhile, presidential candidate and Hizb-e-Islami party leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, said that it would be difficult to restore peace in Afghanistan in the presence of foreign forces.

The war will not come to an end if this government continues-the peace is not possible unless there is an interim government formed acceptable to all sides, said Hekmatyar.

Politician Mohammad Karim Khalili, the leader of Hizb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Afghanistan, raised concerns over the involvement of the Afghan security forces in some events such as a recent operation against Nizamuddin Qaisari, the former police chief of Faryab’s Qaisar district.

The mujahideen have the experience to know that whenever the army falls into the service of a stranger--and into the service of repression--its fate becomes vague. You (mujahideen) have fought the war against the army which was in the service of Khalq and Parcham regimes (Khalq was a faction of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan--PDPA--while Parcham was another faction within the PDPA) you know that whenever an army comes in to fight against will of its people, you know what its destiny will be, added Khalili.

Khalili said that the peace process should come out of a collective, adding that it is the Afghan political parties and the political movements that are supposed to be one of the sides talking peace with the Taliban, not the present government.

The peace is not a government-run process, the Taliban are not willing to sit with the government, particularly the present government, and not with this president (Ashraf Ghani)--they (the Taliban) are not sitting and they have not sat up until now. Peace is a national process, the Arg (Presidential palace) cannot monopolize it, we will never reach peace without having a national spirit, said Khalili.

The statements were made at a gathering organized by Hizb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Afghanistan in the western part of Kabul with participation from politicians from several Afghan political parties including Hizb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Afghanistan, Hizb-e-Islami party, Jamiat-e-Islami party of Afghanistan, Hizb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Mardom-e-Afghanistan, the Afghan Millat party and Paiwand-e-Milli party

There is a need for the formation of a government based on the votes of the people so that we can have a people-oriented political structure in Afghanistan, said Ahmad Zia Massoud, former advisor to President Ashraf Ghani.

The politicians warned that they will not allow the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) to confirm the preliminary results of the elections unless the complaints are addressed with authenticity and in a satisfactory manner.

This comes hours after the IECC said that over 16,200 complaints have been filed by the election campaigns.

This new development takes place days after the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced that President Ashraf Ghani had earned 923,868 votes--50.64%--to lead the preliminary results of the 2019 presidential election.

But Ghani’s rival Abdullah Abdullah challenged the results and said that he will not accept it unless all complaints and electoral violations are investigated.