Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday told UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on the phone that he "will fully respect the constitutional order," UN spokesperson Michele Montas said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai gestures during a press conference, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009. Karzai conceded Thursday that some government officials had been biased toward him in last month's election but defended the integrity of the vote, saying he had so far seen little proof of fraud. [Xinhua]

Montas told a news briefing that "the secretary-general this morning spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The secretary-general urged Karzai to respect the constitutional process, and he was pleased to hear that the President will fully respect the constitutional order."

Asked about the findings of the Election Complaints Commission regarding fraud in Afghanistan, Montas said that the information at this stage consists of reports. "It is for the Independent Electoral Commission to take the orders of the Election Complaints Commission and apply them to the preliminary results and draw a new tally and announce final certified results; that has not happened yet," she said.

Asked about the possibility of a second round of voting, she said that no one underestimates the challenges faced in conducting a second round. However, the spokesperson emphasized that the need for a second round cannot be dictated by the difficulties faced. "A credible government is needed. If a second round is called for, we need to scrupulously abide by the law," she said.

She said that the United Nations had, early on, pointed to the reports of fraud, including during the briefing provided a month ago to the UN Security Council by the secretary-general's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Kai Eide.