Afghanistan Presidential Election To Be Held In April 2014

[News_Editor]

Afghanistan presidential election to be held in April 2014 < br />

2012-11-01 10:15:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Afghanistan will hold presidential and provincial elections in April 2014, just several months before all remaining foreign combat troops are due to leave the war-torn country, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced on Wednesday.

Fazel Ahmad Manawi, the head of the Independent Election Commission, announced in a press conference that both elections will be held on April 5, 2014. The provincial elections were originally to be held in the summer of 2013, and the delay had raised concern that President Hamid Karzai would also postpone the presidential vote.

But in a statement released by his office, Karzai welcomed the announcement. "President Karzai has instructed the Office of Administrative Affairs (OAA) to formally communicate the Presidential order to all relevant government bodies including security forces to make all preparations and to fully cooperate with the IEC Commission to ensure a free, fair and inclusive election across the country," it said.

The elections are certain to be a significant event as they will take place only months before troops with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are due to leave the country. There are currently more than 112,500 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, including some 74,400 U.S. troops, and some fear the country could fall apart after their departure.

Karzai won re-election with 49.67 percent of the vote in August 2009 but the presidential election was largely overshadowed by allegations of fraud. He is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term as president and has repeatedly denied speculation that he would attempt to do so.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed Wednesday's announcement and Karzai's commitment to inclusive, transparent and credible elections. "This is a key point we discussed with our Afghan partners during a recent visit to Kabul," he said. "The elections present an historic opportunity for Afghanistan."

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said it was also encouraged by the IEC's pledge to increase the inclusiveness of Afghan women in the electoral process. "[The election date is] more than a day on the calendar," said U.S. Ambassador James B. Cunningham. "It is symbolic of the aspiration of Afghans for elections which will be crucial for Afghanistan’s future stability."

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-11-01

[thaibeachlovers]

Completely irrelevant. No matter who wins, they will be overthrown by the Taliban, who are just waiting for NATO to leave.

[geriatrickid]

Completely irrelevant. No matter who wins, they will be overthrown by the Taliban, who are just waiting for NATO to leave.

Does anyone really care? The Taliban have learnt their lesson. They will stick to maiming, torturing and abusing people within their own borders. The west has learnt its lesson too. The next time the Taliban aid and abet international terrorists, a couple mega bombs will be dropped.

[ThailandBert]

As said already. As soon as the troops leave, quickly followed by the president and his cronies with the billions they have looted from the aid money, the Taliban will once again be back in power. It will then revert back to the tribal and primitive country it was and always will be and run by religious savages.

That said as much as they weren't very nice to their own people they never threatened another sovereign state and certainly never the UK. When the UN asked them if they could do something about the opium production they did. under the Taliban no more than 30 tons of opium was ever produced. Unlike the coalition that has failed to keep this up and it now runs around 650 tons a year.

Their mistake was to ignore the demands of the USA regarding Bin Laden. When the USA can't get what it wants with diplomacy it tends to get it with its military might. as history has shown.

For me the troops, especially the British troops should all be pulled out now.

American and British troops are dying there for nothing. They are only still there because the politicians are too gutless and spineless to admit they have lost a war they should never have started in the first place.

[GiHadOrange]

Good for Afghanistan. A free election cannot be worse than being occupied by these foreign troops.

[thaibeachlovers]

As said already. As soon as the troops leave, quickly followed by the president and his cronies with the billions they have looted from the aid money, the Taliban will once again be back in power. It will then revert back to the tribal and primitive country it was and always will be and run by religious savages.

That said as much as they weren't very nice to their own people they never threatened another sovereign state and certainly never the UK. When the UN asked them if they could do something about the opium production they did. under the Taliban no more than 30 tons of opium was ever produced. Unlike the coalition that has failed to keep this up and it now runs around 650 tons a year.

Their mistake was to ignore the demands of the USA regarding Bin Laden. When the USA can't get what it wants with diplomacy it tends to get it with its military might. as history has shown.

For me the troops, especially the British troops should all be pulled out now.

American and British troops are dying there for nothing. They are only still there because the politicians are too gutless and spineless to admit they have lost a war they should never have started in the first place.

True. I feel for all the soldiers that will die or be maimed in the future because the politicians can't admit the war is unwinnable.

They should leave now, as it won't make any difference now or later.

[somtumlion]

As said already. As soon as the troops leave, quickly followed by the president and his cronies with the billions they have looted from the aid money, the Taliban will once again be back in power. It will then revert back to the tribal and primitive country it was and always will be and run by religious savages.

That said as much as they weren't very nice to their own people they never threatened another sovereign state and certainly never the UK. When the UN asked them if they could do something about the opium production they did. under the Taliban no more than 30 tons of opium was ever produced. Unlike the coalition that has failed to keep this up and it now runs around 650 tons a year.

Their mistake was to ignore the demands of the USA regarding Bin Laden. When the USA can't get what it wants with diplomacy it tends to get it with its military might. as history has shown.

For me the troops, especially the British troops should all be pulled out now.

American and British troops are dying there for nothing. They are only still there because the politicians are too gutless and spineless to admit they have lost a war they should never have started in the first place.

True. I feel for all the soldiers that will die or be maimed in the future because the politicians can't admit the war is unwinnable.

They should leave now, as it won't make any difference now or later.

Agreed. Bush and Cheney were absolute idiots for trying. Apparently they learned nothing from the Soviet Union's 10 year clusterf&ck there.

[GiHadOrange]

As said already. As soon as the troops leave, quickly followed by the president and his cronies with the billions they have looted from the aid money, the Taliban will once again be back in power. It will then revert back to the tribal and primitive country it was and always will be and run by religious savages.

That said as much as they weren't very nice to their own people they never threatened another sovereign state and certainly never the UK. When the UN asked them if they could do something about the opium production they did. under the Taliban no more than 30 tons of opium was ever produced. Unlike the coalition that has failed to keep this up and it now runs around 650 tons a year.

Their mistake was to ignore the demands of the USA regarding Bin Laden. When the USA can't get what it wants with diplomacy it tends to get it with its military might. as history has shown.

For me the troops, especially the British troops should all be pulled out now.

American and British troops are dying there for nothing. They are only still there because the politicians are too gutless and spineless to admit they have lost a war they should never have started in the first place.

True. I feel for all the soldiers that will die or be maimed in the future because the politicians can't admit the war is unwinnable.

They should leave now, as it won't make any difference now or later.

Ever heard of conscientious objection?

I feel sorry for the people that got killed by these soldiers.

[thaibeachlovers]

As said already. As soon as the troops leave, quickly followed by the president and his cronies with the billions they have looted from the aid money, the Taliban will once again be back in power. It will then revert back to the tribal and primitive country it was and always will be and run by religious savages.

That said as much as they weren't very nice to their own people they never threatened another sovereign state and certainly never the UK. When the UN asked them if they could do something about the opium production they did. under the Taliban no more than 30 tons of opium was ever produced. Unlike the coalition that has failed to keep this up and it now runs around 650 tons a year.

Their mistake was to ignore the demands of the USA regarding Bin Laden. When the USA can't get what it wants with diplomacy it tends to get it with its military might. as history has shown.

For me the troops, especially the British troops should all be pulled out now.

American and British troops are dying there for nothing. They are only still there because the politicians are too gutless and spineless to admit they have lost a war they should never have started in the first place.

True. I feel for all the soldiers that will die or be maimed in the future because the politicians can't admit the war is unwinnable.

They should leave now, as it won't make any difference now or later.

Ever heard of conscientious objection?

I feel sorry for the people that got killed by these soldiers.

Soldiers are always unappreciated till it's yourself being threatened.

They probably signed up for a lot of reasons other than Afghanistan, but once in, you can't say no to a posting.

You can't send troops to a war and then complain when they kill people. It's their job.

Blame the politicians, not the grunts. Next time vote for the anti war party.

[GiHadOrange]

As said already. As soon as the troops leave, quickly followed by the president and his cronies with the billions they have looted from the aid money, the Taliban will once again be back in power. It will then revert back to the tribal and primitive country it was and always will be and run by religious savages.

That said as much as they weren't very nice to their own people they never threatened another sovereign state and certainly never the UK. When the UN asked them if they could do something about the opium production they did. under the Taliban no more than 30 tons of opium was ever produced. Unlike the coalition that has failed to keep this up and it now runs around 650 tons a year.

Their mistake was to ignore the demands of the USA regarding Bin Laden. When the USA can't get what it wants with diplomacy it tends to get it with its military might. as history has shown.

For me the troops, especially the British troops should all be pulled out now.

American and British troops are dying there for nothing. They are only still there because the politicians are too gutless and spineless to admit they have lost a war they should never have started in the first place.

True. I feel for all the soldiers that will die or be maimed in the future because the politicians can't admit the war is unwinnable.

They should leave now, as it won't make any difference now or later.

Ever heard of conscientious objection?

I feel sorry for the people that got killed by these soldiers.

Soldiers are always unappreciated till it's yourself being threatened.

They probably signed up for a lot of reasons other than Afghanistan, but once in, you can't say no to a posting.

You can't send troops to a war and then complain when they kill people. It's their job.

Blame the politicians, not the grunts. Next time vote for the anti war party.

Yes, its a soldiers job to kill people. They knew that when they signed up.