KABUL (BNO NEWS) — A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon released the following statement on Thursday on the elections in Afghanistan.

“The Secretary-General would like to congratulate the women and men of Afghanistan on today’s Presidential and Provincial Council elections. He notes that, by exercising their Constitutional right to vote, the Afghan people have demonstrated again their desire for stability and development in their country.

The Secretary-General commends the Independent Election Commission, and all other Afghan institutions and international stakeholders supporting the electoral process for organizing the elections in an extremely challenging environment. He encourages all candidates, their agents and supporters to continue cooperating with all Afghan electoral institutions during the counting of ballots and the results aggregation period, the complaints and adjudication process and the certification of results,” a U.N. spokesman said.