Agence France Presse, 15 December 2005
Afghanistan's parliament convenes on Monday for the first time in 30 years, signalling the return to the political foreground of warlords responsible for decades of ruinous conflict, and the arrival of women.
It will be another milestone for the country following the adoption of a new constitution, last year's presidential election and September's legislative vote, all made possible with the toppling of the Taliban regime in 2001.
But despite the political reforms and the support of the international community and its military, notably the United States, the situation in the country remains precarious and threatened by growing insecurity, corruption and the trafficking of drugs.
There is much that is still unclear about the new parliament, which will have 249 seats in the lower house and 102 in the upper house.
Even details for its first sessions have not yet been finalised, according to MPs at an orientation course this week.
Monday's opening will be a ceremony of government officials and foreign dignitaries with the parliament likely adjourned immediately afterwards until January when it will sit for two weeks, they said.
After a break for February's harsh winter, it is expected to convene again in March.
What is clear though is that the body will have wide-ranging powers, particularly the lower house (Wolesi Jirga) which will be able take decisions on matters of national sovereignty, alter the constitution, approve the budget, reject government appointments and even put the president on trial.
What is still to be seen is whether the president will find majority support in both houses.
"Karzai needs a majority at the parliament because he's in a sensitive position: in the provinces, people are angry because of slow reconstruction, despite billions of dollars of international aid, the rise of prices and corruption," said analyst and former minister Hamidullah Tarzi.
The allegiances within the parliament are difficult to determine because of the absence of political parties.
Alliances could form along the lines of pro- or anti-Karzai camps, or ethnic loyalties with the Pashtuns -- the president's own group -- in the majority and traditionally in power, analysts said.
Or the divisions may be historic, given the high presence of mujahedin and with at least 25 percent of seats taken up by women, a revolution in a country that once hid them from public view.
MP Shukria Barakzai played down suggestions factions would emerge that would hinder the work of the national assembly.
"At first there will be ethnic divides but soon the atmosphere will change and I think the majority of the MPs will try to work with the government and to push for reforms ... to establish law and security in the country," she said.
"We want to start working as soon as possible," she added.
But analysts said it could take months before the parliament will be able to get down to its business of working on laws, with most parliamentarians coming from a tribal background that has little to do with Western democracy.
"Only 10 to 12 percent of those elected really know how parliament functions," said National Democratic Institute analyst Neik Mohammed Kabuli.
"They are first going to think about their own personal benefits, then of their province and lastly of the interest of the country."
"All that could help corruption for the profit of the government or of drugs barons who have their representatives in parliament," he said.
Once they do begin work, one of the main topics facing the new MPs will be delicate questions about the destitute country's future links with the international community on which it is heavily dependent.
The matter will be the subject of a conference in London early next year.
Another important question will be how to deal with human rights abuses committed in Afghanistan's decades of conflict, with some of the new MPs accused of war crimes.
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Citation: "Afghan parliament to convene for the first time in 30 years," Agence France Presse, 15 December 2005.
Original URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051215/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanpoliticsparliament
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