Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission has postponed the parliamentary elections scheduled for May until 18 September.
According to an official source within the commission, this is due to a shortage of funds; Afghanistan currently needs a further 85 million euros to pay for the voting.
The delay gives President Hamid Karzai and his Western allies time to discuss reforms to the election commission. Western countries have been insisting on this for some time, in a bid to avoid the widespread electoral fraud that marred the presidential elections in August last year.
The United Nations has offered to pay for the voting, but said the money would only be made available if reforms were instituted.
Photo of Hamid Karzai from Wikimedia Commons
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
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