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Saturday's parliamentary elections in the Afghan capital have unfortunately started badly.
A man told the AFP news agency that he would vote in a polling station in a school in northern Kabul, while others were forced to fly to save their lives after a loud explosion. He states that several people were injured in the blast. Explosions also occurred near two other polling stations, said a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of the Interior.
At least 30 people, including a dead child, were accommodated in a hospital run by the Italian emergency service, says the relief organization. However, Afghan authorities have not released figures on the number of dead and wounded this Saturday.
Explosions are exhausted to discourage even more those who hesitate to vote, following an election campaign beset by attacks and murders of several candidates.
Missing voices and problems with voter registration systems – used for the first time – would also have caused delays in many polling stations across the country. In many places, the polls did not appear in time, says the electoral commission, which promised to extend the opening hours.
"I came here early to get ready and go home quickly, but we have been waiting for an hour and they have not started yet," Mustafa, 42, told AFP outside a mosque. reconverted at Vaallokal in Kabul.
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– The sex just stays longer. They must record our voices quickly, we are worried about meeting a bomb or explosion.
On Thursday, the influential police chief, Abdul Raziq, and two other people were killed in an attack in Kandahar Province. Even US General Scott Miller, commander of the NATO mission in Afghanistan, was in place but managed to remain intact.
Death led to that the constituency decided to move the elections to Kandahar one week. It has also been postponed in Ghazni province due to representation issues of different ethnic groups, reports Reuters.
Despite the violence and difficulties, President Ashraf Ghani calls all Afghans with the right to vote to participate in the election.
"By placing our voices without fear, we honor the sacrifices of the victims," he wrote on Twitter, where he posted a photo when he was voting.
The election is described as crucial for the violent country. It has already been postponed twice, but if it is successfully implemented on Saturday, it could open the door to a new generation of politicians eager to fight corruption and fight for democracy, writes the newspaper The Diplomat. On the other hand, violent and questionable elections can contribute to the intensification of divisions within the government and thus threaten the continuation of peace talks.
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Background.Afghan parliamentary elections
Afghan parliamentary elections takes place on October 20th. Nearly nine million Afghans have the right to vote and about 2,500 candidates are competing for the 249 seats in Parliament.
The election had been announced until June 2015. However, the political stalemate that has raged since the 2014 presidential elections, coupled with the escalation of violence, has forced it to be postponed several times.
The authorities insisted that the elections will actually take place this time, despite reports of a series of gaps in preparations, accusations of electoral fraud and escalating violence.
The Taliban have sworn sabotage the process. The movement, however, promises to try to avoid civilian casualties but threatens to attack government soldiers who will try to guarantee the safety of voters. They think that the election is a plot of the United States in order to deceive the Afghans so that they win foreign interests.
Approximately 54,000 soldiers will monitor polling stations on polling day.
Saturday is held in addition to elections to the national parliament, as well as the election of district leaders of the country. It is expected that presidential elections will be held next year.
source: Reuters, Institute of Foreign Policy
Facts.Afghan Parliament
Parliament has two rooms, the wolki jirga and the elders' room (meshrano jirga) with 249 and 102 seats respectively (the number may vary)
Members of the People's Chamber are appointed to direct elections for a period of five years. A quarter of the seats are reserved for women.
The President appoints one third of the older members of the chamber for a period of five years. At least half of them should be women.
Other members is elected by local congregations for three or four years.
The parliamentary chamber can put ministers before the national court.
source: Foreign Policy Institute
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