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Afghanistan aims to hold a vote for the lower house of parliament by late May although fraud, security and funding could all be problems, he said. Corruption, violence and voter intimidation seriously marred last August's presidential vote and critics say a May poll date does not leave enough time to guarantee the safeguards and institutional reforms needed to prevent another flawed result.
But Zekria Barakzai, deputy head of the government-appointed Independent Election Commission (IEC) of Afghanistan, told Reuters the president, chief justice and speakers of both houses of parliament had met and agreed elections should go ahead then. Under Afghanistan's constitution, a new lower house must be in place by June 22 and elections held a minimum 30 days before this. Barakzai said the IEC would announce a firm date by January 3.
The presidential election cost Western governments over $220 million, and while the parliament vote might be slightly cheaper, none seem keen to foot a bill that would still run into millions. "There is nobody, I mean nobody, stepping up to the plate to fund elections without root and branch reform of the electoral system.
Our public back home simply won't accept it," said one Western diplomat who asked not to be named. A UN-backed probe found that a third of President Hamid Karzai's votes in this year's August 20 poll were fake, angering foreign governments, who support Karzai with cash and troops.

Copyright Reuters, 2009

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