Karzai accepts August 20 for Afghanistan presidential vote

[Hadenamadjid]

KABUL – President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that he accepts the recent decision by the country's election commission to hold the presidential vote on Aug. 20.

According to the Afghan constitution, Karzai's term ends on May 21 and a vote for president should be held 30 to 60 days before that.

But the country's election commission has said the vote will be held in August because of security issues, bad spring weather, and a lack of money for the distribution of ballots.

However, a late summer vote leaves a three-month gap between when the constitution says Karzai's term ends and the new elections.

Karzai on Saturday said because the vote was being held in August, his term should be extended until after the results are in — a solution to a possible constitutional crisis that opposition leaders have already said they will not accept.

But Karzai said he was consulting with legal authorities about a possible extension and would soon announce the results of those conversations.

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