U.S. Congressman Steve Israel (D-NY) and U.S. Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) released a joint statement today commending the decision by Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission to delay the country’s parliamentary election by four months:
We commend the Independent Election Commission’s decision to delay Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections. We hope the Election Commission will work swiftly to enact crucial reforms in order to ensure that the elections are fair, credible and safe. We urged for a delay after visiting Afghanistan last month, noting that the priority should be getting these elections right, not just done.
The American people have every confidence in our troops to get the job done, but crucial to our efforts must be real allies within Afghanistan: lawmakers who are legitimately chosen by the people; this decision is an important step in the right direction.