Brussels, 19/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - Despite a few incidents during the election campaign and threats from Taliban that they would upset the elections, Afghanistan was able, on Sunday, to hold its legislative elections welcomed as an historic stage towards democracy. On the basis of the first results from a little over one third of the ballot offices, Peter Erben, the director of the Afghan electoral committee, nonetheless said on Monday during a press conference that, with the first indications, he is able to announce that the rate of turn-out was just below 50%. Although the final results will not be known before 22 October, participation will be nothing like that of the presidential elections in October last when over 70% of voters turned out to vote. The Afghan Parliament is expected to be composed of many representatives close to the former Mudjahiddins or tribal leaders, but also many women as one quarter of the seats are reserved for women members. Mr Erben admitted that some voting offices had not been opened for security reasons in the Pachtun regions of the south and south-east of the country. In these areas, several incidents caused several deaths over the weekend, with one of the victims being a French special forces soldier deployed in the context of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom.
“The first parliamentary elections in over 30 years makes this a historic day and a further milestone on the road to peace and stability which Afghanistan has been travelling along since the end of 2001”, the European Commissioner for External Relations said in a press release on Sunday. The day after the legislative elections, Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she was “gratified by initial reports that voting was peaceful and orderly”. The Commissioner congratulates the Afghan people for its “courage and enthusiasm” as well as the election officials, and stresses the extraordinary work done by Emma Bonino, the head of the EU observer mission, and her team of 150. The president of the European Parliament, also, states that “18 September will remain a historic date (…) after decades of war and obscurantism (…), these elections are true progress towards consolidating the Afghan democracy”. In a press release, Josep Borrell says above all that he shares Emma Bonino's view when she says that the donors' conference should rally to provide greater economic support. These elections “herald the beginning of a new, democratic era for Afghanistan”, the EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, said, considering that “the peaceful conduct of the polls was a victory for all those who are working for the future of their nation”. He stressed the EU's will to support the “government and people of Afghanistan in their efforts to strengthen the democratic order and build a stable and prosperous Afghanistan”.