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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Afghan election 'set for August' | Afghan election 'set for August' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Afghanistan's Election Commission has rejected President Hamid Karzai's call for an April presidential vote, saying it should take place on 20 August. | Afghanistan's Election Commission has rejected President Hamid Karzai's call for an April presidential vote, saying it should take place on 20 August. |
| The head of the commission said it was not possible to hold the vote earlier. | The head of the commission said it was not possible to hold the vote earlier. |
| Elections were due by May, when Mr Karzai's term ends, but postponed to August to allow more time to overcome security and logistical problems. | |
| Mr Karzai's opponents, plus the US, Nato and the UN, have all rejected his moves to bring the vote forward. | |
| The president's term of office ends on 21 May, potentially creating a constitutional crisis if polls are held much later. | The president's term of office ends on 21 May, potentially creating a constitutional crisis if polls are held much later. |
| According to Article 61 of Afghanistan's constitution, elections should be held 30 to 60 days before 22 May, the end of Mr Karzai's five-year term. | According to Article 61 of Afghanistan's constitution, elections should be held 30 to 60 days before 22 May, the end of Mr Karzai's five-year term. |
| Mr Karzai issued a decree at the weekend calling for the poll to be moved forward to April to comply with the constitution. | |
| Challenges | |
| "Due to the weather, security, budgetary and technical problems that we have, the elections cannot be held on the basis of the presidential decree," news agency Reuters quoted Azizullah Ludin, the head of government-appointed Election Commission, as saying. | |
| International monitors have also said it would be difficult to hold a fair election by April for similar reasons. | |
| The US and other members of the international community support the commission's recommendation for an August poll, as the 17,000 foreign troops expected to bolster peacekeeping forces can be used to secure voting stations from the Taleban, reports say. | |
| The commission's announcement confirms its original call made in January for the election to be postponed until August. | |
| Mr Ludin said at the time that the August date had been chosen after consultations with Afghan and international security forces. | |
| "They told us there will be new security forces here... and they will guarantee security," he told a news conference in Kabul in January. | |
| Afghanistan continues to experience militant attacks and suicide bombings by the Taleban, who were ousted from power in the US-led invasion of 2001. |