KABUL, April 14: Elections to select representatives to the Loya Jirga, traditional grand assembly, that will choose Afghanistan’s next government are due to begin today (Monday), a United Nations official said.

“These indirect elections will be held in two stages, one starting on April 15,” said Anders Fange, an official with the UN’s Assistance Mission for Afghanistan.

Some 1,500 Afghans, including 160 women, are expected to take part in the Loya Jirga, which will meet in June to select a government to administer the country for 18 months until full elections can be held. The assembly is being held under the terms of the Bonn accord reached last December after the US-led ousting of the Taliban regime.

Fange said the UN monitored elections would be held for the country’s 381 districts, beginning on Monday in Mardyan, some 70 kms northeast of Shibarghan, the capital of the northern province of Jozjan.

He said each district would nominate between 20 and 60 candidates, who would go forward to the second stage of the election, due to start on May 28.

Lakhdar Brahimi, UN special representative for Afghanistan, who left Kabul Sunday for Mazar-i-Sharif to meet local leaders, is due to visit Mardyan during the election.—AFP