KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- An expert on Afghanistan says the country has to go ahead with the parliamentary election even though it will not be prepared to do so for 10 years.
Teresita Schaffer, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia, told Voice of America that Afghanistan is not in an "ideal situation" for Saturday's vote.
"In a sense you can say it's going to be a decade before Afghanistan is prepared to hold this vote, but they don't have the luxury of not doing it," she said. "They have held one parliamentary election in the period after the fall of the Taliban government".
There are more than 2,500 candidates for the 249 seats in the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Parliament. The Taliban, which has already killed more than 20 election workers, has called for a boycott and threatened to attack polling stations.
UPI
