Nearly complete but still preliminary - and controversial - results show Afghanistan's incumbent as the winner in the country's presidential election. However, President Hamid Karzai is going to have a difficult time claiming a legitimate victory and his closest challenger is not ready to concede.
阿富汗选举结果统计即将完成却仍然是初步的，而且是有争议的。现有的计票结果显示，现任总统赢得了阿富汗总统大选。然而，卡尔扎伊总统很难宣称这是具有合法性的胜利，而且票数和他最接近的挑战者也没有准备承认选举失败。
In another trickle of preliminary results released by election commissioners, President Karzai retains his firm lead with more than 54 percent of the ballots. Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah has 28 percent. Out of the 5.8 million votes deemed valid so far, the incumbent has three million while the top challenger has just more than half that amount. Other candidates are far behind with about 95 percent of all ballots tallied.
阿富汗选举委员会发布的另一份初步结果显示，卡尔扎伊总统维持了稳固的领先优势，拿到超过54%的选票。前外长阿卜杜拉得到28%的选票。目前580万张被认定有效的选票中，现任总统获得300万票，而他最接近的挑战者只得到他一半多的选票。其他候选人在大约95%的选票被计算过后，仍然远远落后。
United Nations spokesman Aleem Siddque in Kabul tells VOA News that it is premature, however, to judge the outcome.
联合国发言人西迪基在喀布尔告诉美国之音说，尽管如此，现在来断定选举结果还为时过早。
"The game is far from over. There are no winners in this election yet. There have been over 2,000 complaints made during this electoral process. And it's imperative that those complaints are thoroughly investigated before any provisional results can be finalized," said Siddque.
“这次比赛离结束还早得很。选举目前还没有赢家。在选举过程中有超过2千起投诉。在任何临时结果被确定之前，都要对这些投诉进行彻底调查。”
That means a resolution is weeks - or possibly, months, away. The U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission may end up putting into quarantine hundreds of thousands of ballots until the major allegations stemming from the August 20 election are resolved.
这意味着要在几个星期，甚至可能几个月后才会有正式结果。由联合国支持的选举投诉委员会可能会封存成千上万的选票，直到和8月20日选举有关的重大指控得到解决为止。
Asked at a press conference in Kabul why the criteria for quarantined votes has changed from 600 per ballot box to more than 1,000, chief electoral officer Daoud Ali Najafi says the ECC just made this decision and the Afghan government's Independent Election Commission agreed to it.
记者会上，在被问及为何封存选票的标准从每个票箱600张变成超过1000张，高级选务官员达乌德.阿里.纳杰菲说，选举投诉委员会做出了这项决定，而阿富汗政府的独立选举委员会同意这么做。
"Tomorrow morning the IEC (Independent Election Commission) and ECC will meet together to establish a procedure to implement the decision," he said.
“独立选委会和选举投诉委员会明天早晨将举行会晤，确立施行这项决定的程序。”
A delay in the final vote count is raising fears of further instability in a country already divided by a Taliban insurgency and smoldering ethnic tensions.
最后票数统计的延迟引起了人们担忧阿富汗发生进一步动荡。阿富汗已经因塔利班叛乱和民族关系紧张而处于分裂状态。
Staying in power, at least for the mean time, is President Karzai. He enjoys support from his fellow Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic group.
卡尔扎伊总统至少在这段过渡时刻依然执掌政权。他受到自己的同胞普什图人的支持。普什图人是阿富汗最大的族群。
Abdullah, of Tajik and Pashtun descent, is backed by Tajiks.
阿卜杜拉受到塔吉克人的支持。他是普什图和塔吉克人的后裔。
If election authorities invalidate enough ballots to bring President Karzai's total below a majority then he and Abdullah would face each other in a run-off. But that would have to happen quickly before snow fall would make many areas inaccessible for the winter.
如果选举当局宣告足够的选票作废，让卡尔扎伊总统的得票总数不过半数，那么他和阿卜杜拉将会在决宣中再度碰面。然而，这决胜投票必须要冬季到来之前迅速举行，因为冬季大雪会使许多地区交通断绝。
The political uncertainty comes as Afghanistan faces its worst violence since the invasion that ousted the Taliban in late 2001.
在政治情势不明朗的同时，阿富汗也面临自2001年底多国部队攻入阿富汗推翻塔利班以来最严重的暴力冲突。
Officials say a roadside bomb in Uruzgan province, apparently meant to target Afghan and foreign troops, struck two passenger cars Saturday killing 14 civilians. Another such explosion in Kandahar province killed six civilians.
有关官员说，星期六，乌鲁兹甘省一枚显然以阿富汗和外国部队为目标的路边炸弹爆炸，击中两辆客车，造成14名平民死亡。另一起类似的爆炸发生在坎大哈省，造成6名平民死亡。
Also in Kandahar two Taliban suicide bombers attacked a government intelligence office killing one agent.
In the northern part of Kunduz province, the U.S. military says, an overnight raid by Afghan and coalition forces killed 11 militants who were in possession of bomb-making material and rocket-propelled grenades. |