KABUL, Afghanistan — Presidential elections considered crucial to Afghanistan’s security and stability will be held on schedule in April 2014, the country’s election commission announced on Wednesday.
The decision eased concerns that President Hamid Karzai would seek to delay the election despite his repeated assurances that he would not. Karzai is not allowed to run for a third term and has said he will not stay on after his current five-year mandate ends.
The previous presidential elections, held in late 2009, were marked by allegations of widespread fraud.
“I think it is significant that they announced the 5th of April, 2014 as the date for the presidential elections in accordance with the constitution,” European Union ambassador Vygaudas Usackas said. “It is a demonstration that the Afghan authorities are taking seriously their commitment with regard to their own people and the international community.”
With $13 million in funds pledged this year to help the Afghans prepare for the elections, the EU is the largest contributor in the effort to organize the polls.
Fair and free elections are also a key condition for the delivery of more than $16 billion in aid pledged during an international donor conference held in Tokyo last May.
The presidential vote also coincides with the withdrawal of tens of thousands of foreign combat troops, most of whom will be gone by the end of 2014.