(17 Mar 2005)
1. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Afghan President Hamid Karzai holding meeting
2. Various shots of Rice and Karzai
3. Wide shot news conference and media
4. SOUNDBITE (English): Hamid Karzai, Afghan President
"The delay in elections is because it was impossible to have it in May as we wanted it, as the government had asked for it. I cannot enumerate the issues there, from refugee participation, to the census, to the forms of election, to the district boundaries, to so many other questions that the electoral commission has to find technical solutions for. It is a technical matter, the commission came to us and said that them and the UN body that is working with them together, is finding it impossible to have elections in May, they propose September and we respect whatever decision the election commission makes."
5. Wide shot news conference
6. SOUNDBITE (English): Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State
"The parliamentary elections, as I understand it, are being arranged. I just had a meeting with the election commission, they are excited, they are working hard, the parties there were excited about the opportunities to get out and advertise these elections. This is a large and complicated country and it takes time to organise these things. But I am confident that these elections will be yet another example of the Afghan people's commitment to democracy and being with the election commission only reinforced my sense of that."
7. Wide shot news conference
STORYLINE:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday that parliamentary elections originally scheduled for May will instead be held in September, a much-anticipated delay as Afghan and international organisers struggle with logistical issues ahead of the vote.
Karzai cited "technical" issues including the lack of an accurate census as reasons why the vote would be delayed.
He said he had been informed of the decision to hold the vote in September by the head of the nation's election commission.
He made the comments at a joint press conference in Kabul with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was making her first visit to the capital.
Rice said members of the election commission had told her of their excitement at being involved in organising the poll at a meeting she had with them that morning.
The election chief, Bismillah Bismil, first proposed the delay to Afghan political party leaders on Tuesday, but it had been rumoured for months.
Observers in Kabul and elsewhere have long said the vote would be delayed because of the daunting task of organising the election, which is supposed to include ballots for district and provincial assemblies.
Some of Karzai's critics have said that delaying the parliamentary vote beyond the May 20 deadline would leave him in the position of an elected dictator.
Afghanistan successfully held presidential elections in October, despite worries over violence and a lack of organisation.
The parliament vote is seen as a key next step in the country's move toward democracy after a quarter-century of war.
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