Afghanistan may have elections before May 21st following an announcement from Afghan President Hamid Karzai today.
Mr Karzai said today that presidential elections must be held according to the constitution, which states they must take place before May 21, a statement from the president's office said.
The president agreed with parliament, provincial and district councils and mayors that the polls should be held according to Article 61 of the constitution, the statement said.
The article states the polls must be held before May 21st and not August 20st, the date set by the election commission.
According to the constitution, the president's term ends on May 21st and new polls to elect his successor must be held between 30 and 60 days before that. The president called on the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to set a date accordingly.
But the IEC has already set August 20th as the date for the presidential election, saying the polls could not take place in the spring as that would mean they would have to be organised during the harsh Afghan winter when many areas are inaccessible.
The IEC also pointed to a contradiction between the constitution and the electoral law which states the presidential term is five years, meaning that Mr Karzai should stay in power until either October, five years after he won the last election, or December, five years after he took the oath of office.
The United States and the international community backed the IEC decision to hold the elections in August as that would give time to extra US troops due to be deployed against Taliban insurgents in the south to try to secure the polls.
In the last three years the Taliban have made a strong comeback, extending the scale and scope of their insurgency across the south and east and up to the fringes of the Afghan capital.
US officials admit they are not winning the conflict but, they say, neither are the Taliban. A stalemate has been reached with insurgents unable to overcome Nato's military might and foreign troops unable to stop Taliban roadside and suicide bombs.
Reuters