Afghanistan Delays Presidential Vote Until July
KABUL -- Afghanistan's election authorities say they have decided to delay a presidential election by three months to July 20 due to delays in registration and ongoing technical issues.
IEC chief Abdul Badi Sayyad added in an announcement on December 30 that provincial and district council elections, as well as a previously postponed parliamentary vote in Ghazni Province, will be held on the same day, according to AFP.
IEC officials have recently admitted that they were considering pushing back the vote, which was expected in April.
"April will be very difficult because of the harsh winter and transporting election materials, security, and the budget issues," Sayyad told a news conference in Kabul. "To better prepare for the vote, we have decided to hold the election in July next year."
Candidate registration started on December 22 and was supposed to continue until January 2. But the date is likely to be extended due to the lack of registration by any candidate, IEC spokesman Zabi Sadat told RFE/RL on December 27.
The IEC is trying to avoid a repeat of widespread technical and logistical problems during the October parliamentary vote.
The IEC is still finalizing results of the parliamentary vote and observers had expressed concern that it would struggle to organize a presidential election in April.
The IEC had already considered delaying the poll once, but vowed in November to hold it on time.
The election is complicated by diplomatic efforts to start a formal peace process with the Taliban, whose representatives have met U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad for several rounds of direct talks.
Khalilzad has said a peace deal with the militants could be reached by April.
More at: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-delays-presidential-vote-until-july/29684103.html?ltflags=mailer
Pray for a positive outcome from these peace talks, that will lead to a long-term stability inAfghanistan.
Pray for safe, free and fair elections, without civil unrest or bloodshed.
Afghanistan: Former Top U.S. Commander Warns About Troop Withdrawal
Retired General Stanley McChrystal says a major withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, which the White House is considering, would damage peace talks with the Taliban and shake Kabul's confidence in its alliance with the United States.
Speaking on the ABC news show “This Week,” the former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said on December 30 that a significant troop reduction in Afghanistan would trade away “the biggest leverage point we have.”
“I think the great mistake in the president's leaked guidance is that just when we were starting to sit down with the Taliban, just when we were starting to begin negotiations, he basically traded away the biggest leverage point we have.
"If you tell the Taliban that we are absolutely leaving on a date...their incentives to try to cut a deal dropped dramatically,” McChrystal said.
The general’s comments come just over a week after U.S. media reported that President Donald Trump is considering a “significant” withdrawal of American troops currently serving in Afghanistan, which currently number about 14,000.
The Pentagon has declined to comment on the reports, but they come shortly after Trump announced that the United States would be pulling out all of its forces from Syria, a move that ignited a storm of criticism from Republican and Democratic lawmakers and former government officials.
Afghan military officials have warned such a withdrawal would pose a danger to the country's undertrained and poorly equipped forces.
McChrystal noted that it could also damage relations between the two countries at a time when U.S. officials have been attempting to push the Taliban to the negotiating table with the government in Kabul.
“Of course, I was worried about the confidence of the Afghan people because at the end of the day, that's what determines who wins in Afghanistan,” McChrystal said.
“And I think we probably rocked them -- we rocked them in their belief that we are allies that can be counted on,” he added.
McChrystal, a 34-year veteran of the U.S. Army, served as the head of the Joint Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2008 and later assumed command of all international forces in Afghanistan in June 2009.
Please keep this troubled land of Afghanistan in your prayers that His peace may finally come and the war will be brought to an end.
Pray that radical elements like the Taliban and ISIS will give up their struggle and work with the government to better the lives of the precious peoples of this long-tortured land.
Turkey: Pray for His breakthrough!
Pray for His Mighty works in Black Sea region.
Thanks and Prayer Letter of January 2019 from Samsun.
- Pray that God will continue to open doors for Gospel to be preached and for the new churches to be planted in the Black sea region
- Pray that the 2 young men, Tansel and Onur would be continue grow and be trained as future church leaders and the church planters
- Pray that God would add those who are being saved daily to His churches in Samsun and the Black Sea region
Prayer Concerns from the North American Prayer Summit
MEXICO & USA
Please pray for great wisdom mixed with compassion for both President Trump and the new Mexican president Lopez Obrador, for the resolution of the still ongoing border crisis.
Migrant caravans with multiple thousands from Central America are coming through Mexico to escape poverty and violence in countries like Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Meanwhile, migrants who arrived with the last large caravan in October are still waiting out the asylum-seeking process at overcrowded shelters in Tijuana. Border cities like Tijuana could become, in effect, giant waiting rooms for the U.S. immigration system.
Mexico is not prepared to provide housing and other services, according to officials and migrant advocates. Officials in other border cities express similar concerns. A major shelter in Ciudad Juárez, also called Casa del Migrante, announced this week that it did not have enough resources to accept any more newcomers.
CANADA
For the OneAccord team who feel led to start a national movement in 2019 with Provincial infrastructure, to mobilise pastors through prayer and fasting to inspire the church to arise and wake up to the massive attack on the culture by sexual activists. The first time of D21 days of prayer and fasting starts on Monday, Jan 7th - D21 stands for Daniel Fast, 21days.
We have to pray because our Government is progressive on basic issues:
- Bill S-206 is to take away the rights of parents to restrain or discipline their children. If this bill passes, we can expect that there will be an increasing number of children put into foster homes and the parents to be in prison or fined.
- Bill C-32 has been introduced to lower the legal age of consent for anal sex from 18 to 16. Would this be the beginning of legalization of pedophilia if the bill passes? The newly created term for pedophilia is “pedosexuality”.
- Legalization/decriminalization of all illicit drugs, including cocaine, heroine, etc.
- Changes to doctor assisted suicide to include minors, the disabled and the mentally ill
- Leniency towards crime and terrorism with reduced sentences.
- Sovereignty eroded by signing onto the recent UN Global Compact For Migration.
Lord have mercy on Canada and the Nations - mulitudes in the Valley of Decision (Joel3)
