UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto has stressed the need to continue peace negotiations even ahead of the presidential elections.

 Yamamoto said:” Government and political leaders must foster consensus and create structured arrangements to effectively represent the interests of all Afghan people in their engagement with the Taliban. Preparations for the presidential elections should not distract from the necessary work.”

Elsewhere he added that ” direct talks between the United States and the Taliban continue with broad international support. Afghanistan and some of its international partners, in particular Germany and Qatar, are preparing for an intra- Afghan dialogue. The dialogue would bring together people’s voices representing a wide spectrum of society. All these efforts need to be directed towards one common objective: to start formal negotiations between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban to reach a peace agreement.”

Referring to the presidential elections, the UN envoy added:” The IEC needs to demonstrate that it can address the problems which marred the parliamentary elections and integrate the lessons learned into preparations for the upcoming vote. These preparations must include improved procedures for publishing voter lists well in time, training of electoral staff, more robust outreach and voter sensitization, and the timely rollout of electoral technology.”

He also “stressed the importance of holding the election scheduled for 28 September, saying that the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan is a key moment to reaffirm legitimacy of democratic political structure.”

Arezo news website – Salimi