Top > Regional Affairs > Middle East > Afghanistan > Dispatch of Japanese Government Election Observation Team for the Presidential Election in Afghanistan

Dispatch of Japanese Government Election Observation Team for the Presidential Election in Afghanistan

October 1, 2004

  1. From October 2, 2004, the Government of Japan will dispatch an election observation team headed by Deputy Director-General of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau Juichi Takahara for the presidential election in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan and Iran scheduled to be held on Saturday, October 9, 2004. The team consisting of ten persons sent to three countries, will engage in monitoring activities inside Kabul in Afghanistan while taking into consideration the current security situation, as well as monitoring overseas voting.
  2. Two sessions of Loya Jirga (Grand Council) in Afghanistan based upon the Bonn Agreement, resulted in the establishment of the Transitional Administration and the adoption of the new Constitution, followed by its enactment. In July, the Joint Electoral Management Board, whose members are from Afghanistan and the United Nations, announced that it would carry out presidential election on October 9, 2004 and parliamentary elections in April or May next year. The international community has been providing assistance for the implementation of free and fair elections.
  3. Japan has been supporting actively peace building and reconstruction in Afghanistan. In particular, for the presidential and parliamentary elections, which are the culmination of the peace process in Afghanistan, Japan has extended a total of 17 million dollar assistance through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); 8.2 million dollars for voters registration and 8.8 million dollars for the implementation of the election. In addition, Japan has been working for the creation of an environment conducive to implementing elections through providing assistance for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) process. Along with these measures, the dispatch of this election observation team this time is conducted in consideration of the importance of implementation of a free and fair presidential election.
Back to Index