KABUL, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday called for the country's Independent Election Commission to conduct presidential election by April, months earlier than the date set by the commission.

    The commission has to conduct presidential, provincial council and other elections according to provisions of the constitution, Karzai said in a statement.

    Karzai also called for all the Afghan people, including the opposition side, to take part in the election. So far 4.3 million voters have registered out of a potential electorate of 16 million people.

    The president's office term will end on May 21, and the presidential election should take place 30 to 60 days before that date according to constitution.

    However, the Independent Election Commission has postponed the election to August 20 because of logistical and security worries.

    The United States, Britain and United Nations supported the commission's decision to postpone the election, according to local media reports.

    U.S. President Barack Obama last week decided to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan to stabilize the country's security situation. An early poll would not benefit from the arrival of the additional U.S. troops.