In less than 48 hours, more than 12 million illegible voters will cast their ballots for the first time in almost 30 years to elect the candidates of their choice for the new Parliament and provincial councils.

I am confident that despite threats and intimidations in some parts of the country to disrupt elections, polls will open on Sunday at 6 am across Afghanistan, and millions of men and women will once again, in a demonstration of unity and civic duty, endorse the process that began almost four years ago to put the country on a democratic path.

This process – known as the Bonn agreement of 2001 – will end with the upcoming elections, but the job of recovery and rebuilding the war-torn country will not end there, as it will require added impetus and a new commitment to achieve our common objective of helping create a stable, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan.

I say common, because the Afghans have not been alone on this journey. Many other nations have stood with us through the turbulences associated with nation building. Afghans thank the international community for helping us in the security sector and in the fight against terrorism, and for providing humanitarian and reconstruction assistances to rebuild a shattered economy and decimated institutions.

Allow me to express my gratitude to the people and Government of Canada at this point for their generous contributions over the past four years in terms of security and peace-maintenance, as well as funding for development, humanitarian and other projects. Canada’s latest contribution of C$5 million to support the elections through the UNDP and other measures announced this week were timely and very much appreciated. We look forward to further expansion of relations with Canada, and we are especially keen to help Canadian business and industry find their way into the promising Afghan market.

The new Constitution, the presidential elections held last year and now legislative elections are spectacular achievements that send a very clear and strong message to the enemies of peace inside and outside Afghanistan: the people have spoken and they reject your recipe for destruction, violence and ignorance.

Of course guaranteeing security is a paramount concern on Sunday. Almost 100,000 security personnel, including Afghan police, National Army, NATO and Coalition forces, would provide security at more than 6000 polling centers. Our enemies might be able to strike opportunistically but we are confident that they will not be able to disrupt the elections altogether. Already seven candidates have lost their lives and several were injured because of terrorist action.

the diehard extremists and their supporters as well as corrupt warlords and drug-lords, who do not represent Afghan aspirations and values, are doomed to fail in their quest to keep the country from moving forward.

It is the hope of every Afghan that the new parliament will function within the confines of the Constitution, provide check and balance within the political system, play a constructive role as a responsible legislature and gain the trust of the people by providing effective and transparent representation. In short, it is hoped that the parliament and the councils will become solid partners in the rebuilding efforts underway.

Once in place, however, like many other Houses of Representatives, the Afghan parliament and councils also promises to be quite vocal and animated.

I will now take any question you might have.