KABUL, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has encouraged the Afghans to take part in the upcoming elections, the mission said in a statement Tuesday.
Taking part in elections is a citizen's right enshrined in the Afghan constitution and a basic human right for all people, "to elect and be elected" through free, general, secret and direct balloting, said the statement, a day after the Taliban militant group urged Afghan citizens not to attend the process.
During the upcoming Oct. 20 elections, nearly 9 million registered voters, including 3 million women, out of some 12 million eligible Afghans, will cast their ballots to elect members of the 249-seat lower house of parliament for a five-year term while they will also vote to elect members of the district councils.
"Afghan men and women have a basic human right to freely choose their government and leaders," Tadamichi Yamamoto, special UN envoy and head of UN mission, was quoted in a UNAMA statement as saying.
"It is critical that all actors in Afghan society do everything within their power to safeguard this fundamental right so that citizens can cast their vote without obstruction, threat or intimidation," he said.
More than 54,000 Afghan army soldiers and police personnel would be deployed to provide security for 5,100 polling centers across the country.
