Dispatch of Observation Mission for the Lower House Election in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

September 17, 2010
Japanese

Japan will dispatch an election observation mission for the Lower House Election in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan that will be held on September 18th (Saturday). The mission consists of 6 people including the head Mr. Tsukasa Uemura, Deputy Director – General of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau and officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan, and will perform polling observation.
In March this year, Japan provided assistance of about 49.9 billion yen for a successful implementation of the Lower House election including the election cost (about 35.60 million US dollars (about 3.67 US billion yen). The election observation mission will be dispatched to support a free and fair election in Afghanistan as Japan believes that holding a democratic election by Afghanistan is important for its state-building and future stability.
Japan has provided Afghanistan with assistance of about 2.41 billion US dollars so far to prevent the country from slipping back into being a hotbed of terrorism. In addition, Japan announced a new assistance package last November with the focus on three areas of improvement of security, reintegration, and development. The package consisted of assistance up to an amount in the region of 5 billion US dollars in about 5 years from 2009. Japan will continue to provide assistance for Afghanistan to encourage Afghanistan’s mid-long term independence.

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