Afghan provincial council and presidential elections take place April 5.

The presidential elections were successfully conducted in 2004 and the parliamentary and provincial elections are due to be held on 18 September 2005.

Only last week, the final results of the parliamentary and provincial council elections were confirmed.

Ms. Juul (Norway) Norway welcomes the successful holding of the parliamentary and provincial elections in Afghanistan.

Building on the success of the 2004 presidential elections, the 18 September parliamentary and provincial elections represent a significant achievement and important milestone for Afghanistan.

The benchmarks will be completed later in the year, following parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for September 2005.

Ten per cent of the candidates in the parliamentary and provincial council elections in September 2005 were women.

Around 6,200 candidates, including 629 women, were initially nominated for the parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for September 2005.

It is also playing a key role in helping to provide security for the forthcoming parliamentary and provincial elections.

Further increases in isolated violent incidents are expected with the approach of the National Assembly and provincial council elections.

Applauding the holding of parliamentary and provincial council elections on 18 September 2005, leading to the completion of the Bonn process,

At present, in Afghanistan there is a Government that was elected in 2004 parliamentary and provincial elections took place in 2005.

Building on the successful experience during ISAF's support to the presidential elections, forces are being prepared to support the National Assembly and provincial council elections in support of the core Bonn Agreement objectives.

The Security Council congratulates the people of Afghanistan on the confirmation of the final results of the parliamentary and provincial council elections.

For the first time since 1988, on 18 September 2005, parliamentary elections for the Wolesi Jirga (House of the People), the lower house of the Afghan National Assembly, and provincial council elections were held.

We welcome the parliamentary and provincial council elections of 18 September, which constitute an important milestone in the development of democracy in Afghanistan.

Elections to the general seats of the National and the Provincial Assemblies are held on the basis of first past the post system.

The State of Kuwait would like to congratulate the Afghan people on the confirmation of the final results of the parliamentary and provincial council elections.

NATO has provided additional forces to ensure a safe and secure environment for the National Assembly and provincial council elections scheduled for 18 September (see para.

Thirty three percent seats were reserved for women in the local bodies elections and 17 percent in the National Assembly, the provincial assemblies and the Senate.

Mr. Akram (Pakistan) With the successful holding of parliamentary and provincial council elections in September, Afghanistan has passed the last major milestone in the Bonn political process.

It was only last week that confirmation of the final results of the parliamentary and provincial council elections was received, thus marking the successful conclusion of the Bonn process.

The parliamentary and provincial elections held on 18 September the first in Afghanistan in more than 30 years marked important steps on Afghanistan's road to recovery, peace and stability.

The main challenges facing the new Government will be the coordination of policies between ministries, implementing President Karzai's ambitious agenda and preparing for upcoming parliamentary, provincial and district elections.

Building on that success, the United Nations will be assisting with the coming parliamentary and provincial elections, which had to be postponed until September 2005 owing to technical and financial difficulties.

A sufficient number of nominations were received from women candidates to fill their reserved quota of seats, except in provincial council elections in the three provinces of Nangarhar, Oruzgan and Zabol.

Mr. Ozawa (Japan) Our deliberations on this agenda item are very timely, especially since the results of the parliamentary and provincial council elections held on 18 September have just been confirmed.

Australia also warmly welcomes the democratic outcome of the September 2005 national and provincial elections and applauds the courage shown by all Afghans who took part, as candidates and as voters.

In Afghanistan, it could have meant instead of concentrating on the big presidential and parliamentary elections, we should have done what was in the Afghan constitution from the very beginning, which is to get direct local elections going at a district level and elect people's provincial governors.

Provincial Europe

2. Congratulates the people of Afghanistan on the parliamentary and provincial council elections on 18 September 2005, which have demonstrated the broad commitment of Afghan voters towards a democratic future for their country

Within the framework of the project, one national and three regional workshops on women's political participation were organized prior to the elections and transportation was provided to 10 provincial departments of women's affairs.

The provincial Women Development Departments (WDD)s assist it at the provincial level.

In the political sphere, parliamentary and provincial council elections held on 18 September 2005 led to the completion of the Bonn process and demonstrated the broad commitment of Afghan voters towards a democratic future.

Legislative framework. Major laws for the conduct of elections to the National and Provincial Assemblies are the Representation of the People Act, 1976 and the Representation of the People (Conduct of Election) Rules, 1977.

The last elections for the three Provincial Assemblies, which also determine the composition of Congress, the legislative body of New Caledonia, were held on 9 May 2004, ending RPCR's 25 year domination of the Caledonian Government.

provincial inspectorates of police

Stresses the importance of security for the credible parliamentary, provincial and district elections, and to this end calls upon Member States to contribute personnel, equipment and other resources to support the expansion of the International Security Assistance Force and the establishment of provincial reconstruction teams in other parts of Afghanistan, and to coordinate closely with UNAMA and the Government of Afghanistan

Nicholas Haysom, acting head of the U.N. Assistance Mission said hundreds of women are running in provincial council elections, three women are running for vice president and more than 30 percent of the newly registered voters are women.

The increase in troops is due to additional resources deployed as part of ISAF assistance, at the request of the Government of Afghanistan, to provide security for the National Assembly and provincial council elections on 18 September 2005.

Despite the successful parliamentary and provincial council elections in September, the security situation in Afghanistan continues to be a source of serious concern, as shown once again by the recent attacks against the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

We stand in elections we vote in elections we observe elections.

Mr. Oh Joon (Republic of Korea) At the outset, my delegation congratulates the Government and the people of Afghanistan on the successful holding of parliamentary and provincial elections in September, which demonstrated their firm determination to achieve democracy, reconciliation and unity.

With the elections to the Wolesi Jirga (House of the People) which resulted in 27 per cent women's representation in national parliament and 29 per cent in the provincial councils, the participation of Afghan women in public life has significantly increased.

All the provincial governors are men.