The World - News from April 6, 1988

Afghanistan declared a national holiday for the first of 10 days of parliamentary elections, only the third in the country’s history. Voters will directly elect a 229-seat lower house and one-third of a 186-seat upper house. Another third of the upper house will be chosen by provincial councils and the remainder by Afghan President Najibullah. The new Parliament, called the National Assembly, will replace a Revolutionary Council installed after the 1978 Marxist takeover. Meanwhile, a New York-based human rights group said that Moscow has begun issuing evacuation permits for Afghan government and Communist Party officials to use if they must flee their country after a Soviet troop withdrawal.