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Afghans vote for parliament

Early reports indicated that unlike the presidential elections held last October, there were few early morning poll lines and little exuberance as polls for Afghanistan`s first fully elected parliament opened with tight security on Sunday. Nevertheless, election officials were still predicting that a high percentage of the 12.4 million voters would eventually take part in this crucial step in Afghanistan`s transition to democracy.The vote count is expected to take two to three weeks.

Jean Arnault, the special representative of the United Nations in Kabul, told reporters at a press conference on the eve of elections, ",There have been criticisms here and there, but let me tell you, no one could have done better.",The international community mounted a massive effort to give every village and every district the opportunity to vote.

With many areas unreachable by road, election officials deployed 1,247 donkeys, 300 horses, 24 camels, 1,200 trucks, 9 helicopters, and 39 transport planes in order to get ballots to the 26,250 polling stations around the country.