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Afghanistan Cabinet Selection Further Delayed
By IOL Correspondent, Asif Farooqi
KABUL, June 18 (IslamOnline) - Political bickering, power grabbing attempts and outside interference held the elected president of Afghanistan from nominating his cabinet as the Loya Jirga of Afghan elders was forced to drag to the third day beyond the original schedule.
Hamid Karzai, the president-elect in his brief appearance before the grand council Tuesday June 18 said that he was not able to make a final decision on the key posts of his government and needed more time. "now i think it would have been better had the Bonn conference itself nominated the key persons in my government" Karzai said in his light-mood speech given to the Loya Jirga in which he was expected to announce the key members of the transitional Afghan cabinet.
He said it has been an extremely difficult task to select members of his cabinet given the ethnic and political diversity in Afghanistan. "We have so many famous and important people and the posts are fewer" he added. Karzai announced that he will present the name of his key colleagues in the cabinet Thursday June 20.
Before coming to the huge white tent, where the Jirga is in progress for the eighth consecutive day, Karzai was reported to have had intense discussions with some of the key players in Afghan politics and his close aides. According to the well informed sources in the diplomatic community in Kabul, the largest power sharing group in the interim Afghan administration, the northern alliance was pushing Karzai for more seats than they were offered. Led by Faheem Qasim, the Defense Minister in the present administration, the Northern Alliance is not only asking to retain the cabinet seats already occupied, it has come out with a demand that a ethnically Tajik vice president be nominated with Pashtun President for ethnic balance in the new government.
The Northern Alliance still has two key posts in the cabinet, besides having some of its men on the helm of affairs in other security related institutions. The group relinquished the charge of the Interior Ministry when Yunus Qanooni resigned from the post on the opening day of the Jirga.
The local warlords who have kept quiet throughout the proceedings at the Loya Jirga, also have been reportedly asking for power in the new transitional setup. It was still not clear yet as to whether some of them were looking to getting seats in the cabinet.
When Hamid Karzai found himself locked in all this chaos, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmei Khalilzad has come out with another controversial statement, apparently forcing Hamid Karzai to get his key cabinet approved from the Loya Jirga. Talking to a group of reporters on the sidelines of the meeting of the Grand Council, Khalilzad said head of the transitional authority was bound to get approval of the Loya Jirga of his key cabinet members under the Bonn agreement.
Some of the close aides and allies of Hamid Karzai have been suggesting that under the same Bonn agreement, elected head of the government enjoys the full authority to select his cabinet as he pleases. "Under the Bonn agreement and the set democratic practices in the world, the elected head of the government has the right to choose his cabinet" Dr. Ashraf Ghani, adviser to Hamid Karzai said.
The row over the interpretation of the Bonn agreement and the distribution of the cabinet posts inline with the ethnic requirement is likely to keep the announcement of the cabinet hanging in balance for another day. However Hamid Karzai is scheduled to appear before the Jirga Thursday afternoon on June 20.
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