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Further Reading

14 June 2004

Karzai Reports 3.8 Million Afghans Now Registered to Vote

State's Boucher says number is "significant figure at this stage"

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai has reported that 3.8 million people have registered to vote in Afghanistan's coming elections.

Boucher, speaking at the June 14 State Department press briefing in Washington, said 35 percent of those registered are women, which he described as being significant "given Afghanistan's history and especially its recent history."

The spokesman said U.N. personnel in charge of the voter registration are seeking to register as many people as possible before the elections, and he said the 3.8 million figure "was felt to be very good progress towards doing that."

President Karzai met with Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier in the day and is due to meet with President Bush on June 15.

Boucher said "remarkable progress" is being made on the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

He said President Karzai had explained at the June 14 meeting that "they've been able to extend government services throughout the nation and provide things such as the new road, provide schools for 5 million kids, provide clinics and provide for the extension of government authority throughout the nation, and now they were in a significant period of building institutions, especially through elections, but also through further building of government institutions."

However, he added, there are many more projects to do, and the United States has "pledged to stay the course and deal with them together."

Following is an excerpt from the June 14 State Department briefing:

(begin excerpt)

QUESTION: On Afghanistan, President Karzai has been saying that he would welcome Taliban members in the country's political life. Is that the view you share, and do you make any parallels with having members of the Baath Party in Iraq be part of the process there?

MR. BOUCHER: It didn't really come up in the Secretary's meeting with him this morning. We'll see if it comes up during the course of the White House discussions. But this has, I think, been some time now that the government has announced that they are maintaining a firm policy against allowing leadership of the Taliban back into positions of authority. Indeed, many of them need to face capture and justice, but that there are some people who may have been associated with the Taliban who they feel were not significantly participating in those activities or involved in any crimes, which it will be up to the government to determine through its appropriate procedures whether they have some place in government or society at this stage.

It was a -- the Secretary had a very good meeting with President Karzai this morning. They talked about the remarkable progress that is being made in Afghanistan. President Karzai was able to give us the news that he got -- that he just got from Afghanistan: They've registered 3.8 million voters, which we felt was really quite significant at this stage; 35 percent of the registrants are women, which is also quite significant. So that was good news to get. And we talked about the process of reconstruction, the process of building institutions.

I think the way he explained it in general is that they have been able to extend government services throughout the nation and provide things such as the new road, provide schools for 5 million kids, provide clinics and provide for the extension of government authority throughout the nation, and now they were in a significant period of building institutions, especially through elections, but also through further building of government institutions. And that was something that we pledged to continue to help with, especially in the area of training police and military for the area of security, and working together on threats like narcotics production and the continuing threat of terrorism.

So I think the summary is it's what we see together with the Afghan Government: remarkable progress being made across the board in Afghanistan, but still a lot of work to do. We're pledged to stay the course and deal with them together.

QUESTION: Richard, 3.8 million voters registered so far. That's only about a third of the universe, right? I mean, hadn't you guys estimated that there are 10 or 11 voting-age people?

MR. BOUCHER: There are various estimates of the number of voting-age people and no one quite knows how many of them will register. I think in all nations you find that the total registered is the total -- is less than the total eligible. But this is a pretty significant figure at this stage to have reached 3.8 million and the feeling is that they will continue along those lines. And it's, as well, noting that 35 percent of them are women, given Afghanistan's history, and especially its recent history, that's a fairly significant percentage.

QUESTION: Do you or the UN have a minimum number that you think need to be registered for it to be a legitimate and credible election?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know if the UN does. I think our view is that they should make every effort to register as many people as possible. But I have not heard a specific target figure, no. Just as many people as possible. This is felt to be very good progress towards doing that.

(end excerpt)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)