KABUL , Afghanistan ( CNN ) -- The top United Nations official in Afghanistan on Sunday defended himself against allegations that he has been wary to publicly address problems in the country 's recent presidential election . U.N. representative to Afghanistan Kai Eide is under fire by critics who say he did not address election fraud . Clarifying his position at a news conference in Kabul on Sunday , Kai Eide admitted that the August 20 vote was marred by `` widespread fraud . '' Eide , the special representative of the secretary-general for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ( UNAMA ) , called the allegations against him `` personal attacks against me and my integrity '' by his recently fired deputy , Peter Galbraith . `` Some of these allegations are based on private conversations whilst he was a guest in my home for two months , '' the Norwegian diplomat said , referring to Galbraith . `` My view is that private discussions around the dinner table remain just that : private . '' Eide defended his decisions to open as many polling stations as possible , despite security concerns ; denied allegations that he refused to share information with the Afghan electoral officials ; and rebuked allegations that he `` accepted that the IEC ( Independent Electoral Commission ) dropped its safeguards in order to bring President ( Hamid ) Karzai above 50 percent . '' `` This is simply untrue , '' he said . Eide stressed that his main focus is moving forward Afghanistan 's election process . His comments come a week after Galbraith wrote a scathing op-ed in The Washington Post , accusing the United Nations of trying to cover up the real reason he was fired . Galbraith blamed Eide for `` denying or playing down the fraud '' in the election because `` he was concerned that even discussing the fraud might inflame tensions in the country . '' `` But in my view , the fraud was a fact that the United Nations had to acknowledge or risk losing its credibility with the many Afghans who did not support President Hamid Karzai , '' Galbraith wrote . Galbraith reportedly angered Karzai by calling for a complete recount after widespread allegations of election fraud and was abruptly recalled as Eide 's deputy on September 30 . In his October 4 op-ed , Galbraith said the disagreement was not about `` how '' UNAMA would respond to electoral fraud , but `` whether '' it would respond . The final results from the August 20 presidential election have yet to be certified because of an ongoing partial recount of suspected ballots . Karzai said Sunday that `` the delay in the announcement of the elections results has negatively affected the country 's security and economy . '' Karzai called for the immediate release of election results `` so the people of Afghanistan know their future and come out of uncertainty caused by the Western media and some elements in Western countries . '' `` The Afghans need to know whether they can determine their destiny or , despite elections , it is still foreigners who decide about it , '' Karzai said .
Eide calls allegations against him `` personal attacks against me and my integrity '' Eide defends decisions as special representative of the secretary-general for UNAMA . Ex-deputy Galbraith blames him for `` denying or playing down the fraud '' in election . Aug 19, 2014 -