The shura of eastern Khost province has demanded Hamid Karzai approve its choice of governor or risk another outbreak of the civil unrest which has dogged his first two months in office. The Khost shura arrived in Kabul saying the appointed provincial governor, Kamal Khan, had no support. "Khan is from Paktia [a neighbouring province]. The people don't want him," Shura head Haji Mirzajan said. He said the shura wanted former governor Debarjan Arman re-appointed "as he has the support of all parties and ethnic groups."
Arman, who is supported by former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, should be made governor "as he has done good things for the people and has not killed anyone," Mirzajan said.
Hey, good resume entry! "Has not killed anyone."I'll concede that "has not killed anyone" isn't the highest of recommendations (although, if true, it may make him unique among adult Afghan males). But, unlike the fake "federal" "republics" so common throughout the world, it seems that Afghanistan has some genuine need for a federal or confederal organization.
Despite the liking of European and American progressives for unitary pseudo-democratic (where conservatives always run candidates, but never win elections) states without obstructions like bills of rights, perhaps that model isn't suitable for Afghanistan.
Posted by John "Akatsukami" Braue [www.win.net/ratsnest] 2/6/2002 7:32:29 PM I think of Afghanistan as being a classically feudal society, only with guns instead of swords. "Stuck in the 11th century" would be something to take literally.
Dostum: Duke of Mazar-e-Sharif;
Ismail Kham: Duke of Herat;
The late Masood/Daoud Khan(?): Count of Pandjir;
Shirzai: Count of Kandahar;
&c.
A complicating factor is the condotierri like Hekmatyar, trying to carve out their own fiefdoms. The king had a little more power than the Merovingians, probably not as much as the Platagenets. The loya jirgas fulfill functions somewhere between an early parlament and a Latin senatus. So they probably really need a king (or an imperator) and the loan of the Magna Carta.
Posted by Fred 2/6/2002 8:06:53 PM |