KABUL, Afghanistan Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday backed off plans towards an August election and asked the country’s electoral commission to set an earlier date.

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The brief statement from Karzai’s work offered no new date for a presidential vote, but came after lawmakers said they would not recognize Karzai as president after May 22 - the expiration of his five-year spell. The statement said the election authorize should follow the Afghan constitution, which calls for elections to have existence held 30 to 60 days previous to May 22.

The commission in January said the presidential election would be held Aug. 20, but many members of parliament acquire said an August vote was not welcome and that Karzai would be an unauthorized president hinder May 22.

However, between nations monitors have said it would be difficult if not impracticable to hold just elections during the March-April timeframe for of security concerns, bad weather and logistical issues like the distribution of ballots.

It was not without any intervention visible if Karzai’s decree was political posturing to counter demands from parliament or granting that he thought elections would actually have being moved up.

Waheed Omer, a government spokesman, said Karzai’s decree asks the electoral commission to set a new date “that hopefully adheres to the constitution.”

“When the election commission set the date of Aug. 20 for the elections, the president admitted a letter from house of lords and house of commons asking him to uphold the constitution and likewise asking the electoral commission to uphold the constitution,” Omer said.

“The president had a order of discussions with the Supreme Court and based on those discussions the president has issued a decree asking the electoral commission to uphold the constitution,” Omer said.

The head of the election errand, Azizullah Lodin, declared in January when he announced the Aug. 22 date that the security situation was not beneficial enough concerning a cause vote.

Afghanistan continues to be plagued by fighting attacks and suicide bombers since a U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban’s hard-line Islamist regime from power in 2001. The Taliban insurgency has strengthened in recent years, gaining more control from one side of to the other southern regions, and last year was the deadliest for U.S. armed force since the invasion.

Lodin related the commission also agreed to wait for additional between nations forces expected to arrive in the coming months. President Barack Obama recently announced that 17,000 additional U.S. troops would deploy to Afghanistan this year, and U.S. officials have said they would get there in time to help secure the discernment.

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Associated Press reporter Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.

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