The grand council, or loya jirga, assembled in Kabul for the last nine days to debate a new constitution, has overwhelmingly opted for a democratic system — and specifically the strong presidential system advocated by President Hamid Karzai.
| I'm not sure Karzai and "strong presidential system" really fit in the same sentence, but that's still a good move... |
In what appears to be a major success for Mr. Karzai and his United Nations and American supporters, delegates said all 10 working groups formed to discuss the draft articles in detail had voted to adopt the presidential system. The final draft and proposed amendments will be put to a vote of the full assembly this week, but with every committee supporting a presidency, it will probably be approved. Some delegates boycotted the committees, each of which had about 50 of the 502 delegates, but their opposition is thought not to be strong enough to alter the overall support.
| "Yar! Maybe we can't win the vote, but we can boycott it, by Gar! That'll fix 'em!" |
"The fundamentalists will resist and push for a parliamentary system, but we have the votes," said Abdul Hakim Nurzai, a delegate and member of a new political party, the National Unity Movement. He said that his committee had voted 43 to 0 to adopt a strong presidential system and that all the other committees had similar votes. Another delegate said only one man in his committee had supported a parliamentary system. "For the moment all the districts are controlled by warlords, so this would not allow for free elections and we would end up with a parliament of warlords," Mr. Nurzai said during a prayer break in the afternoon session. "We prefer a strong president to break the power of the warlords, and to prepare for free and fair elections."
| A parliamentary system would give the warlords and the fundos the opportunity to impose the kind of gridlocks MMA has imposed on Pakland for the past year. It could become all talk and posturing, with nothing of substance done. On the other hand, a "strong" presidential system in coming years will be more susceptible to tin hats and men on horseback — not that a parliamentary system ever stopped Hekmatyar from grabbing for it all. Y' pays yer money and takes yer chance. |
A 15-member Reconciliation Committee will tabulate the votes and the suggested amendments from the 10 committees, said Safia Seddiqui, the spokeswoman for the council chairman. A committee will then draw up a final draft to be put before the full assembly. The final session could take place Wednesday or Thursday, allowing the council to break up by Friday, officials said. "There are not many articles where there is diversity of opinion," said Farooq Wardak, director of the Constitutional Commission secretariat. |