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| Afghanistan |
| Under the radar: First Afghan parliament in decades to meet Monday |
| 2005-12-16 |
| Four years after the overthrow of the Taliban, a new Afghan parliament will meet for the first time on Monday in the culmination of an international plan to bring democracy to the country following three decades of conflict. Lineups of the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga, the lower house, and the 102-member upper house, or Meshrano Jirga, read like a Who's Who of protagonists of the bloody past -- to the bitter disappointment of many victims. Former Communists, leaders of guerrilla groups which overthrew them and ex-Taliban will sit side by side in a parliament which emerged from U.N.- backed September elections. Trying to limit their influence will be idealistic new politicians, including technocrats and women's rights activists. The parliament is seen as a means of reconciliation and a potential counterbalance to the administration of President Hamid Karzai, installed after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001 and elected president last year. Karzai's record has been patchy, but analysts say it remains unclear how much influence parliament will be able to exert. "It is a very mixed group of people with very different backgrounds," said Niamatullah Ibrahimi of the Crisis States Research Centre. "Many are not experienced in legislative and parliamentary issues and will have difficulties focussing on national agendas." Self-styled opposition leader Yunus Qanuni has been seeking to create a front of support, but after an election held on an individual, not party basis, the assembly is expected to be a disparate body with a parochial focus. Security will be tight for the opening after a wave of attacks blamed on Taliban insurgents and their al Qaeda allies. The threat was underlined on Friday when a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb between two Norwegian peacekeeping vehicles near the parliament, killing himself and wounding two passers-by. The Taliban said the bomber had intended to target the "bogus" parliament but took the opportunity to attack the peacekeepers. Spokesman Qari Mohammed Yousuf vowed more attacks to disrupt the parliament, "a symbol of American occupation". In a country which has not seen a representative parliament since the 1970s, procedures still have to be laid down and what happens after the inaugural session is unclear. It should sit for nine months, but may adjourn until spring, given logistical problems posed by winter and January holidays. Parliament's first task will be to elect presidents of the two chambers. More than a dozen people are vying to lead the lower house, including Qanuni, two women and several factional leaders dubbed warlords by their critics and accused of serious rights abuses. The parliament must also endorse Karzai's cabinet. Before the September vote, Qanuni predicted his National Understanding Front would win more than 50 percent of the lower house seats and said it might not endorse all Karzai's ministers. Analysts say he appears short of his target, but he is not alone in criticising Karzai's administration, which many Afghans complain has failed improve their lives. Tens of thousands of U.S.-led foreign troops and billions of dollars of aid have ensured relative stability and brought new prosperity to cities like Kabul. But the Taliban insurgency has intensified and beneficiaries of the boom have been the already rich, while the poor struggle with soaring prices. Plans to reform the judiciary and other parts of government have achieved little, and many people opted not to vote in polls critics say were marred by significant fraud and allowed many figures blamed for abuses to seek legitimacy and influence. Human Rights Watch says up to 60 percent of deputies are warlords or their proxies, boding ill for efforts to account for abuses and to stamp out a huge opium and heroin trade. Woman MP Safia Seddiqi, bidding for the lower house presidency, also vowed to oppose some cabinet members. "We need to reform the entire structure of the government. Some ministers are not capable of doing their jobs. It is parliament's job to restructure the government and cabinet." Even so, Karzai appears to have enough support to avoid major problems, although he will need to court interest groups, which could water down essential reforms further, analysts say. While the United States and its partners will hail the new parliament as a success in countering Islamist radicalism, analysts say it is not the end of the story. "I think the international community has a high motivation to portray the technical success of the elections as a sign of real victory," said Sam Zarifi of Human Rights Watch. "But many Afghans see a failure of the political process. There will be a heavy burden to show this is not just a talkshop where warlords and druglords further their interests." "Can't you see that it's a futile effort, a quagmire, and that these people just aren't able to have democracy? Can't you? Can't you?" |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #3 I wonder if they will stick to fistfights in chambers. RPG's would be impractical for indoor use. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2005-12-16 17:03 |
| #2 Funny how you this article would never be featured in the Associated Press. |
| Posted by: bgrebel9 2005-12-16 16:55 |
| #1 Wow that comment by that human rights watch joker is too much. |
| Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2005-12-16 11:43 |