I don't know if you saw this:
Afghanistan Elections to Be Postponed Until October
By CARLOTTA GALL
Published: July 1, 2004
KABUL, Afghanistan, July 1 - Afghanistan's national elections, already postponed for three months until September, will now be put off until mid-October for both logistical and political reasons, foreign and Afghan officials here said today.
The delay, if just for a matter of days, should not be seen as a ``major drama,'' a United Nations spokesman, Manoel de Almeida e Silva, said. ``There is indeed a debate,'' he said. ``Of course, if the debate goes on, that will have an impact on the election date.''
Farooq Wardak, a leading member of the election management body, said plans were still to hold elections at the end of September. But in comments today to The Associated Press he admitted that wrangling between officials and political parties would delay setting the date for elections, which should have been made this week if elections were to take place in September.
Election organizers have not been able to meet all the necessary hurdles in time, and are still in discussion with the government and political parties over details, which is delaying the announcement of the date, officials said. Although registration of voters is finally moving forward, nomination of candidates, rules of procedure and registration of parties are all behind schedule.
The election date has to be announced 90 days before the poll, and for it to be in September the date should have been announced by Friday. Foreign officials working on elections said that it was generally understood the elections will be held now in mid-October.
There is also intensive discussion in Kabul over whether to postpone parliamentary elections until next year as violence mounts, and the disarmament of militias and warlords has faltered. Youth and civil society groups have already called for elections to be postponed until next year to ensure greater stability and freedom for voters. Political parties which are only starting to form and register are largely in favor of a postponement too, officials said.
President Hamid Karzai and the United States ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, have been firm on the importance of holding presidential elections this year, however, as the mandate of President Karzai's transitional administration expires. President Karzai is widely expected to win a popular vote for president, but postponement of the poll would undermine his credibility and put him in the same category as the former president, Buhranuddin Rabbani, who was much disliked for holding on to power for years after his original four-month term expired in the early 1990's.
United Nations officials and diplomats are concerned that without more disarmament of the warlords and their militias, there will be gross intimidation and interference in an early election, especially for parliamentary seats.
The United Nations spokesman, Mr. Almeida e Silva, stressed that the organization was being guided by the time frame laid down in the Bonn agreements, which set elections for this year, but was also concerned to see commitments on disarmament and demobilization of militias, the surrender of heavy weapons and political freedoms met ahead of elections.
Jean Arnault, the United Nation's special representative in Afghanistan, told the Security Council in May that the Taliban and al Qaeda insurgency in southern Afghanistan was increasing, hindering voter registration and threatening the legitimacy of elections. Mr. Arnault said voter registration hasn't been possible in three of the 34 provinces and has proven difficult in nine others. |
