Reappointed as defense minister was Mohammed Fahim, the Panjshiri who controls many of the Northern Alliance forces still in Kabul. Fahim was also named a deputy president.
Also reappointed as foreign minister was Dr. Abdullah, Fahim's fellow Tajik, who had been the Northern Alliance's main public face during the final weeks of its campaign to retake Kabul.
The other Panjshiri who had held a top Cabinet office, Yunus Qanooni, was named education minister. Qanooni offered his resignation as interior minister last week as the loya jirga convened.
A Pashtun, Taj Mohammed Wardak, was named interior minister — a key post because of the ongoing fight against al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives.
Ashraf Ghani, Karzai's adviser and most visible advocate in recent months, was appointed to lead the finance ministry. He is a former official with the World Bank.
Many delegates, particularly ethnic Pashtuns from eastern and southern Afghanistan, said it would be unacceptable to keep power restricted to Panjshiris in the top three ministries of the Afghan government. Pashtuns have been deeply worried they would be shunted aside in a Tajik-dominated government. They also worry about being lumped in with the Taliban, whose leadership was predominantly Pashtun.
Seems like there would be pretty good reason for doing just that. It wasn't the Pashtuns who tossed the Talibs, and it hasn't been the Pandjiris who've been doing most of the fighting and arguing and providing of safe haven since their departure. |