Thank you all for being here. I thought I would start this briefing as usual with a couple of observations. Let me begin by saying that we are quite encouraged by the statements that are being made [not only] by the Government but also by a number of political parties following the decision of the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) on the date of the elections. Although all these statements have expressed that these parties would have had another preferred option they [state that they] could also accept the decision or ruling of the JEMB. This is a good thing. It is good because this is why we have, first of all, an independent electoral body – to remain above the parties and make decisions based only on the protection of the integrity of the electoral process. It is also a good thing that the parties are rallying around the decisions of their electoral authority. It is yet another good thing frankly because we know and we knew that there were different views about this electoral process. But we also know that it’s absolutely critical that at the end of the day most political parties should feel comfortable with the electoral process. An electoral process is of course divisive and the outcome will also be divisive. But the process itself, must by necessity, build a consensus around itself. This is why we are very keen to see in the next few days, more and more parties, irrespective of the type of position they had taken on the electoral process in recent weeks, rallying around the ruling of the JEMB.

The second point that I want to make is the fact that while some time has been gained for the organization of the Parliamentary election, in reality we must all be aware that a lot has to be done before these elections take place.

If only from technical and legal view point, let’s remember, that the elections that will take place in April will not only be the Wulesi Jirga election; they will be the Wulesi Jirga and the elections for the local shuras and the provision shuras. It means that an enormous amount of work that has not yet been completed, must be completed, Let me give you two examples: Number one- the settlements of all district boundaries. The country is still dogged by a problem of the administrative boundaries, and the work that has been done so far in this respect, certainly has not been satisfactory. I have no doubt that succeeding in clearly establishing the boundaries of 370 districts or more will take some time. And then there are the population figures. You know that the population figures have been a complex and sensitive issue forever in this country. For the elections to be held in April, we must obtain credible and acceptable population figures for all districts and provinces. In one of the last meetings of the Cabinet, it was decided to recognize as a basis for this population figure, the 1979 census. And it has asked the United Nations to assist and supervise, the calculation of the population growth, based on the 1979 census. This is certainly a difficult issue and we at the UN are prepared to do our best. I just want to underline for all of you that in terms of preparation, the work that it will take to provide the proper basis for Wulesi Jirga and local elections will be considerable.

A third point, which is important to me: I think that the JEMB has made it clear why the delay in Parliamentary election was a necessity. I would like to stress, that for the UN is also a very important opportunity. Many Afghans, as a matter of fact, were somewhat relieved to find out that the Wulesi Jirga has been postponed. Why? Because many Afghans feel that under the current circumstances, continued factionalism, drug money, and all kinds of shortcomings of the current political set up, would necessarily have an impact on the outcome of the Parliamentary election. Many Afghans in that sense, wish indeed, that much more should be done before the Wulesi jirga, in order to provide minimum conditions of freedom and fairness. And we do believe, that it is indeed important for the Government, all the political parties, and also the international community, to make a very concerted concentrated effort to make sure that in the next eight months, the climate, the environment, of this parliamentary election will not be what it is today. And I think Manoel [Maonel de Almeida e Silva, UNAMA Spokesman] has already, stressed to you the issue of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR), much more has to happen on DDR but also on counter-narcotics. In this county, as in any other country, the availability of billions of dollars in drug money, will find its way into the political representation. If we do not do anything, to entirely neutralize the power of the drug money, we should at least mitigate it.

So in conclusion, we feel that the eight extra months that have been given to the political process to achieve a good Wulesi Jirga, should not be wasted. And all of us should work very very hard to provide, as I said, the minimum basic standard for that Wulesi Jirga elections.

Thank you very much.

Question and Answers

Question: Can you tell us what do you consider the biggest threat to the Presidential and Parliamentary elections? Will it be the Taliban? Or security, like the incident in Herat today, which may or may not be related to DDR. What is going to be the underlying issue?

SRSG: I think so far, I would say the only factor that has clearly made the failure of this presidential election’s goal, indeed the anti-governmental forces- Taliban, so on and so forth. And all of you know that the numerous incidents that have taken place in recent months. We always hoped that DDR would have the lesser impact.

Frankly, if we have thought that the Presidential election could have been utterly undermined by the slow progress of DDR, we would have argued for postponing all the elections. Frankly if we really would had thought that there is no condition in this country for any elections to take place. This is not our view for the time being and we feel that from a security viewpoint even though the situation is certainly not easy and will not be easy, it is still possible to have a decent Presidential election.

Question: In this consultation process for delaying of election dates, were people like Ismail Khan and other regional leaders, so called warlords, were they consulted? Or leaders of Jumbesh, were they consulted also about the delay? Were they satisfied? Do you actually have any reason to fear any backlash?

SRSG: Number one, formal consultations on the part of JEMB under the law, of course could only take place with registered political parties. For obvious reasons and I think you know the outcome of those consultations. Others, I think not all, leaders of factions or regional powers have made their positions known in one way or another. And certainly I think we are aware, of the position that most of these leaders have taken if only because that position was made clear at the Constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ) last year. This is the debate, let’s put it this way, on simultaneous versus sequential elections, a debate that has been going on for some time. And we assume that we do know and understand, the positions of the various parties. Whether everybody is satisfied with the decision of the JEMB, I do not know yet, and but this is why I emphasized at the beginning, that those formal reactions that have been coming in so far, first of all in the part of the government, who as you know recommended a different arrangement; and other parties who were essentially in favour of simultaneous elections, but could rally around the proposal or ruling of JEMB. All these are good news and we hope frankly that more will join in. And we think that ultimately, any party that wants to be part of the political game, will have to accept the rules of the political game, and one of the cardinal rules of this game, is that the authority to decide how elections are conducted is that of an independent electoral commission. And we feel very strongly that ultimately, all parties should rally around this ruling.

Question: How sure are you? [inaudible]

SRSG: This is a question that very often has been asked. Frankly, I am not sure if there is any answer other than saying that efforts will have to be made in order to reach that goal. Look the DDR process had a goal under Berlin that was reaching 40 percent of official troops by the end of June . This was not done. Something has been done however, and we feel that the amount of work that has been done must be done. As far as we are concerned, we will insist with all the political parties, with the Government, and the international community that this opportunity of the next eight months, must not be missed.

Question: Election will now be more expensive. Can you or the JEMB can guarantee there will be enough funds for the parliamentary elections in 2005?

SRSG: Actually the premise is not entirely true. As a matter of fact, the most expensive arrangement, would have been one, whereby, you would have had a presidential election now - in September, a Wulesi Jirga in November- December, and then the local elections next year. Because remember that under the Constitution, you must have essentially three elections. What we have now, is a situation, whereby, you have one Presidential election on 9 October, and the Wulesi Jirga and local elections are now reconnected and will take place in one exercise in April. The cost, I assume, will not be much larger. What we have to take into account, though, is that right after the Presidential election, the Electoral Secretariat, will be able to resume registration. The fact that between the end of October and April, you will have registration in all 34 provinces, might entail an extra cost. I don’t believe that overall, this option is more expensive than any other options that were suggested.

Question: We have been listening to Manoel, telling us about security, DDR- it’s not where it should be; were there other factors affecting the decision to have the Presidential election on 9 October such as political factors, such as American pressure?

SRSG: Well, we gave some thought, to the possibility of postponing presidential election, because if you look at the Constitution- the Constitution does prescribe, and made it compulsory, to try and do our best, to have these elections simultaneously, But we have also looked around and enquired within the population at large, and our feeling is that with the build up of a very strong momentum in terms of registration, the overwhelming majority of the people of Afghanistan want an election: I would be very happy if your own contacts tell us that this is not the case. But as far as we are concerned and through our offices, through the offices of the Secretariat, there are very strong signs that the people of Afghanistan would not have understood that all elections be cancelled this year. And that has played a major role in our decision-making. Because as I said, ultimately, it is all about confidence. And if the confidence, that people are showing now, in the registration process, is somehow followed by a collapse of that confidence, we will have missed a major opportunity to build trust around this election. So ultimately, while none of the options were perfect, the least imperfect option, in our view, continues to be Presidential in October, and Parliamentary in the middle of next year.

Question: In regard to funds, now that the Presidential election is the only one coming. How much will this reduce your immediate requirements for the 100 million that you said earlier?

SRSG: Well, I am afraid that we have to give you at the next opportunity. Because I don’t have the figure with me. Of course, I assume it will be a lesser expense. But how much, now, I would not be able to say.

Question: Let me press you again on this point. Are you concerned that the warlords, regional leaders, members of the parties, and other factions could cause trouble as a result of the delay in the elections?

SRSG: You know it is very difficult to judge how much disagreement there is with the ruling of the JEMB and how much willingness there is to act on whatever discomfort it is that some people may feel. But if you ask my personal judgment, I don’t think so. I think that there is too much of a national consensus on this as evidenced in the first reactions for anyone to try and turn it around.

Question: Are you concerned that some people might create security incidents, to use as an argument that DDR is a bad idea?

SRSG: That is always a possibility of course, and that is very much a possibility that we have to keep in mind. In many countries, security incidents are created only for the purpose of demonstrating that this or that force is indispensable. So there is no reason why Afghanistan should be immune to these kinds of tactics. But again, I don’t think that is a major factor that could prevent, the sort of DDR momentum from continuing.

Question: How many candidates have been registered? Also how many of them are male and female?

SRSG: I am afraid that I am not able to answer this question. I think the nomination process opened yesterday, and I don’t have this data.

Question: Also is there any positive opinion from the political parties on the parliamentary election?

SRSG: Well, I assumed that those who already started the process of nomination, basically are accepting the ruling of JEMB.

Question: With the election timetable and Herat incident, how important is it to deploy more people on the ground? For Nato to deploy more people?

SRSG: Well, you know we have made this case so many times. I don’t think that I am going to repeat anything. All the incidents that have been happening recently, including the killing by now, of four female registration officers, do demonstrate that protecting the electoral process is not a matter of arriving on the polling date. Protecting the process means being available for months and month to make sure that the preparation for the election is adequate.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity, to reiterate once again that the time for the arrival of the international forces is now, not in four months from now.

Thank you.

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