Afghan elections set for further delays

Historic Afghan elections scheduled for September will be delayed because of wrangling among officials and political parties, a senior government official said today.

Farooq Wardak, a senior member of the country’s election management body, said the group would not be able to reach a decision by Friday, the deadline for setting a vote in September.

Under Afghan law, the polling day must be set at least 90 days in advance. That makes Friday the last chance to announce a September 30 election.

“Much more consultation is required,” Wardak said before a meeting with the top UN official in Afghanistan, Jean Arnault.

“I’m hopeful that next week we’ll have a decision.”

President Hamid Karzai has pledged repeatedly to hold the elections in September, despite mounting violence against election workers and concern that warlords will use intimidation to cement their power.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were already delayed from June, partly because of insecurity.

October is seen as the last chance to hold a vote before snow closes high passes in the Hindu Kush area until the spring of 2005.

Wardak said only four of the 20 political parties consulted by the election body want the vote to be held this autumn.

Karzai has argued that blocking the vote would betray Afghans hopes, some three years after the ousting of the hardline Taliban regime.