Seen and much of what ambassador samad has shared with us as far. A great enthusiasm leading up to the vote and on election day despite significant threats, personal threats and amidst great personal risk that so many afghans came out and voted in those elections on saturday is really inspiring and we certainly observed that enthusiasm into places that our observers were able to get out and observed on election day. The turnout that is being reported at this point is somewhere around 7 million votes cast. I think we will see that number be refined a little bit as the results sheets come, and actually from the polling stations and into kabul to the National Tallying Center and it was just a few weeks ago where we were sitting around talking about her hats we distributed to many ballots around the country and the fact that one of the issues that we are now talking about is that there were shortages of ballots in places because of enthusiasm and because of voters coming out is exactly the
enough to make a judgment. long enough to make a judgement because they turned a recovery into the longest double dip recession since the war. because there are more people looking for work for longer than at any time since the last time there was a conservative government. and here is the other thing, what about borrowing? borrowing. the thing they said was their number one priority. this year borrowing is rising not falling. let me just say that again. borrowing the thing they said was the most important priority, the reason they were elected. it is rising not falling. not because there hasn t been pain and tax rises and cuts affecting every family in this country. not because they didn t want to cut it borrowing. they did. not because your services aren t getting worse. they are. but because if you stop an economy growing, then it leaves more people out of work claiming benefits, not paying taxes. businesses struggle so they re not paying taxes. and as a result borrowing g
there s been a tradition here to regard women s empowerment as something that is worthy and nice, but also a soft issue and kind of secondary, and to have this discussion with this extraordinary panel being held here in this large hall is really a reflection to the degree to which this issue has grown up and has graduated to a perception that if you want to address the world s key issues, whether it be global poverty or economic development, climate change, insecurity, help you have to do it by educating girls and bringing those educated women into the global labor force and positions of power, whether it be here at the world economic forum or in corridors of power all over the world. we have this terrific panel to discuss these issues with. from my left we have prime minister shinawat, the first woman prime minister of thailand. we have archbishop desmond tutu , the nobel peace prize laureate, and also chair of the elders. michelle bacele, the first woman president of chile