Oral Answers to Questions

Iain McKenzie Excerpts

Tuesday 17th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I am sure that the Afghan Government feel that pressure. As my hon. Friend knows, they are in favour of reconciliation; they are promoting it. President Karzai has appointed the high peace council to take forward that work, endorsed by Loya Jirga, so that work is certainly under way. The presence of American forces is a matter for the Governments of Afghanistan and the United States to reach agreement on themselves, so I cannot give my hon. Friend any new news on that.

[Mr Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde) (Lab)]

2. What reports he has received on the capacity of the authorities in Afghanistan to preside over free and fair presidential elections in 2014.

[Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South) (Lab)]

6. What reports he has received on the capacity of the authorities in Afghanistan to preside over free and fair presidential elections in 2014.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Alistair Burt)]

When I was in Kabul about three weeks ago, officials made it clear that the forthcoming elections would create challenges, not only in relation to security. Accordingly, we are working with the United Nations Development Programme to support the capacity building of the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan, which will have responsibility for presiding over and delivering the election in 2014.

[Mr McKenzie]

Is the Minister confident that the Afghan police force will be strong enough to secure a presidential election in 2014 that is free from intimidation and electoral fraud?

[Alistair Burt]

We certainly hope so. The work that is being done to train and build up the Afghan national security forces, including the police, is on track. The numbers have increased, and they now stand at 148,000. It should also be noted that not all of Afghanistan is Kandahar or Helmand; there are substantial parts of the country where security is not an issue. As a result of the transition process, half the population is now under the control of the Afghan national security forces. We will continue to work with them, but we hope that they will be responsible for the conduct of free and fair elections and be able to guarantee that security.