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Exchange
of Fire, Debates Delay Loya Jirga Elections
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An
Afghan soldier carries a portrait of Karzai, as many Loya
Jirga delegates complained about lack of a free vote. |
By Asif Farooqi, IOL South Asia Correspondent
KABUL,
June 12 (IslamOnline) - As an exchange of fire was heard just outside
the Loya Jirga conference, the chosen Afghan representatives went back
to the huge makeshift tent after the evening prayers break Wednesday,
June 12 to finally elect a chairman and his staff to run the
proceedings of the Loya Jirga.
Procedural
complications and emotional debates, coupled with the unidentified
exchanges of fire, held back an expected decision on the election of
the Loya Jirga administration.
Half
the day Wednesday was spent on the nominations of the candidates for
the
highly
respected post of the chairman of the Jirga, and the rest went wasted
when after the informal luncheon meetings, the delegates started
withdrawing their candidatures in other’s favor.
Such
was the confusion that the names of the candidates broadcast live on
the
close
circuit television put the numbers of the candidates to more than 1000
against
the
actual number of the delegates at slightly more than 1500. It was
clarified later
in
the day that there were actually 100 candidates for heading the Jirga
of whom
many
withdrew.
The
delay in the proceedings of the Jirga even perturbed the
administration of the
meeting.
“Once this complicated elections of the chairman and his associates
is over,
we
will be able to proceed faster,” said Ashraf Ghani of the Loya Jirga
Commission (LJC).
Once
the elections on the chairman and other posts of the Loya Jirga are
completed - most probably in the late night session Wednesday, the
delegates are expected to
vote
for the head of the government Thursday, June 13, Ashraf Ghani said in
a press
conference.
Three candidates have so far registered themselves for the election of
the head of the government, he added.
Besides
interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai and a U.N. employee, Dr. Masooda
Jalal, a little known cleric, Mir Muhammad Mehfooz Nidai, came out as
the third contestant
for
the highest government post. Another potential candidate, brother of
the assassinated Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Masood,
announced he was not in the run for the head of the transitional
government “despite receiving calls to run”.
“Delegates
coming from across the country urged me to be a candidate, but I was
not
prepared for it,” he said. “We have announced our support for Mr.
Karzai," he added.
But
the more problematic issue is still to come under discussion; that is
the election
of
the cabinet ministers. There is likely to be a battle for the cabinet
posts between
the
former king's supporters and the Northern Alliance, which ousted the
Taliban last
year
with the help of U.S. air strikes.
"We
are preparing for a lengthy and heated discussion maybe tomorrow or a
day after on the make-up of the cabinet, the legislative body and the
judiciary," said a LJC official.
Meanwhile,
the European governments announced Wednesday they may agree to
the
expansion of the multinational security force troops beyond the Afghan
capital.
European
Union envoy Klaus Peter Klaiver said in Kabul that the E.U.
governments
were
seriously considering the proposal to deploy International Security
Assistance
Force
ISAF troops in other major cities of Afghanistan. Around 5,000 (ISAF)
troops
have
patrolled Kabul since last December.
Klaiver
told journalists in a press conference that European governments were
now reconsidering their earlier decision to restrict ISAF to Kabul and
its surroundings.
Klaiver
said that the ISAF strength may be doubled if the idea of its
expansion get
legitimacy
through the U.N. Security Council. “Doubling of the number of troops
should not be impossible; 10,000 is not a lot,” he added.
Klaiver
said that the expansion would leave Afghans outside Kabul feeling less
alienated.
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