Disputes, confusion delay Loya Jirga

The opening session of the historic Loya Jirga, or Grand Council, which is to decide on a transitional government and head of state to steer Afghanistan into democratic elections in 2004, has been delayed. The special commission charged with convening the Loya Jirga announced on Monday that the late arrival and registration of some of the approximately 1,500 delegates had resulted in logistical problems, making a 24-hour delay necessary. The commission stressed that neither security nor political issues were responsible for the delay. However, a few hours later, the US envoy to Afghanistan, Dr Khalilzad Zalmay, told journalists that the delay was caused by confusion over the role the former king, Mohammad Zaher, would play in the transitional government. “One major reason for this postponement is statements that were issued yesterday indicating that the former king might be, or is, a candidate for the post of the president of the transitional authority which is to be constituted by the Loya Jirga. Since these statements were inconsistent with earlier statements by the former king, it caused some consternation and confusion among the participants in the Loya Jirga. “As a result, in addition to logistical and security considerations, the commission organising the Loya Jirga decided that it would be prudent to delay for 24 hours to ascertain the true intentions of the former king,” he said. He said that after a number of meetings it appeared that the reports were incorrect, that the former king was not a candidate for any position in the transitional authority and that “he supports, endorses the candidacy of chairman [of the interim authority Hamid] Karzai for the presidency of the transitional authority”. Zalmay said the former king had made it clear in discussions that he did not want a restoration of the monarchy or any executive position in the transitional authority. According to various sources, delegates at the Loya Jirga were split between support for the former king and for Karzai, contributing to the delay. Those supporting the former monarch did so in the hope that he could prevent the deadly ethnic divisions that have plagued the country. They said some delegates were also unhappy with Karzai for having given key ministries to the Northern Alliance in his interim administration, and that the allocation of key posts in the transitional government were still being intensely negotiated among different factions ahead of the Loya Jirga. Meanwhile, on Sunday, women delegates expressed their intention to lobby strongly for key positions in the transitional authority. Forty women were elected across the country onto the Loya Jirga and 160 seats were reserved for them. Citing education, access to equal opportunities and the appointment to key posts like health, education and even defence, as their priorities, the women said during a press conference that they wanted equal rights to become a reality, not just an electioneering slogan.