With 40 days left before the September 18 parliamentary and provincial elections in Afghanistan, an additional 19 million US dollars are still needed in order to carry out the vote. The shortage of funds for the elections was announced by a spokesperson for the United Nations in Afghanistan. According to experts, in order to ensure a free and fair election in the country, 31 million US dollars are required.
A few weeks before the election, only four countries have said that they are available to provide more money towards the vote, said the UN source. The United States have supported the elections in Afghanistan with nine million dollars, and New Zealand, Denmark and Norway have guaranteed another four million dollars, he said.
The United Nations, which has been tasked with helping the Afghan government organise the coming elections, have said that if by the end of August, they are not able to collect the necessary funds, they will ask the government of President Hamid Karzai to postpone the election date.
The head of the EU's election observer mission in Afghanistan, Emma Bonino, had revealed in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI) that the United Nations had been clear that tens of millions of the dollars promised to carry out the elections had never arrived.
"For security reasons and because of the complexity of producing the material needed for the vote, another 20 million euros are now needed, in addition to the initial amount expected," said Bonino. Italy has already responded to this need, she said, deciding to "increase its contribution by a million euros."