By HAKIMA HEJRAN
Most Kabul residents still don't know who all the presidential candidates are, an informal Kabul Weekly survey has found. Half of all those surveyed could only identify at most six of the 41 presidential nominees.
Kabul Weekly interviewed approximately 200 Kabul residents about their knowledge of the presidential candidates.
Since the start of the presidential campaign on June 16, most of the candidates still had not campaigned in the capital or other provinces citing a lack of money and security fears.
The candidates with the most campaign activity have been President Hamid Karzai, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, Mirwais Yasini and Ramazan Bashardost. Most of those surveyed said they were familiar with these candidates because of their political records and not because of their campaign outreach activities.
While many of the nominees have printed thousands of campaign flyers and posters, most residents say they can't match the candidates’ faces with their names and policies.

Kabul Weekly is asking the presidential candidates to answer the question, why will you win the election? We will publish their responses each week without editing their answers. This feature will continue throughout the campaign period.

Bashir Ahmad Bezhan:
I do hate tribal and regional classification. I am the son of all Afghan tribes and I was born in Kabul, which is not related to one specific tribe and which belongs to all the Afghan people regardless of their tribal affiliation and language. I have fought against any invaders bravely to defend independence, honor, dignity and rights of the Afghan people. All the brave mujahid and patriotic people of Afghanistan are witness that I am committed to defending our independence, social justice, peace, stability, women's rights, improving the lives of our youth, spiritual leaders, mujahideen, women, journalists and scholars, and I hope to succeed in this blessed struggle with the help of Allah, the Almighty.

Hassan Ali Sultani: As we are aware of the conditions of our country, of course our procedures and policies are all made to comply with the demands and requirements of the people. Provided our nation pays strict attention to our policies, they will find their future prosperity in our policies. Furthermore, I have lived with my people and suffered a lot and seen the miseries in my country; this encouraged me to take action to rescue my people. I am not involved in any hostilities in my country and have not committed any action contrary to the wishes of my people nor have I made them unsatisfied. Since our people need a neat, honest and patriotic personality to serve this country and so I hope that I will succeed in the upcoming contest. I will win the upcoming election unless there if fraud and people sell their vote for money. i

Hedayat Amin Arsala: To the best of my knowledge, our poor people want to elect a faithful, honest and decisive candidate who has the knowledge and experience to lead the country and who is recognized nationally and internationally. Such a leader can help the country and the Afghans for a prosperous and progressive future by Afghans themselves. I have a master's degree and PhD in economics, political science and international affairs. I had worked for World Bank for 18 years and played a positive role to develop the economy of some developing and underprivileged countries. In my beloved country, I've served as a foreign affairs minister, deputy director of the interim government, finance minster, vice president and I was director of the Administrative Reform Commission and Civil Service, advisor to the President, trade and manufacturing minister and chief minister. I have all the characteristics that a president should possess and I can claim proudly that I am not involved in corruption or fraud. My vice presidents are knowledgeable personalities like Ustad Mohammad Ismail Qasimyar, who headed the Emergency  Loya Jirga and who is a recognized lawyer, is my first vice president. My second vice president, Amir Dost Mohammad Omari, is a great jihad personality. I will form a government of those who have the potential to serve this nation. Hence, the secret of my success is knowledge, experience and the honesty of my colleagues.

By SEDIQ ZALIQ
The Electoral Complaints Commission said in a press conference this week that results of the presidential and provincial council elections will not be announced until all complaints are investigated.
ECC officials said in a press conference on Monday that they had received 369 complaints since the start of the campaign on June 16.
The Independent Election Commission has set dates for the announcement of the results.
"Preliminary results will be announced on Sept. 3 and the final results will be announced on Sept. 17," IEC spokesman Noor Mohamamd Noor told the Kabul Weekly in an interview.
The majority of the complaints have been filed by the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan.