The Warlords Win in Kabul

[Mark Pavlick]

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>THE WARLORDS WIN IN KABUL
>
>By Omar Zakhilwal and Adeena Niazi*
>
>On the final night of the loya jirga, more than 1,500 delegates gathered for
>the unveiling of the new cabinet. Our hearts sank when we heard
>President-elect Hamid Karzai pronounce one name after another.  A woman
>activist turned to us in disbelief: ``This is worse than our worst
>expectations.  The warlords have been promoted and the professionals kicked
>out.  Who calls this democracy?''
>
>Interim government ministers with civilian rather than military
>credentials were  dismissed.  Mr. Karzai did not announce the minister for
>women's affairs, prompting speculation that Sima Samar, the popular current
>minister in that post, will be removed once international attention shifts
>elsewhere.
>
>Meanwhile, the key ministries of defense and foreign affairs remain
>in the hands of Gen. Muhammad Qasim Fahim and Abdullah Abdullah, both
>from the dominant Northern Alliance faction based in the Panjshir valley.
>Yunus Qanooni, of the same faction, was switched from the interior ministry
>to education, though he is reportedly resisting the move. Three powerful
>Northern Alliance commanders - Mr. Fahim, Haji Abdul Qadir and Kharim
>Khalili - have been made vice presidents, surrounding Mr. Karzai. These are
>the very forces responsible for countless brutalities under the former
>mujahideen government.
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>There are a few glimmers of hope in the appointments of professionals
>like  Ashraf Ghani as finance minister and Juma Mohammed Mohammadi as
>minister of mines.  But will they be able to accomplish anything within a
>government of  warlords?
>
>As the loya jirga folded its tent, we met with frustration and anger in
>the streets.  ``Why did you legitimize an illegitimate government?'' one
>Kabul resident asked us.
>
>The truth is, we didn't. While the Bonn agreement and the rules of the
>loya jirga entitled us to freely choose the next government, we delegates
>were denied anything more than  a symbolic role in the selection process. A
>small group of Northern Alliance chieftains led by the Panjshiris decided
>everything behind closed doors and then dispatched Mr. Karzai to give us the
>bad news.
>
>This is not what we had expected when we first gathered in Kabul to
>participate in one of the most extraordinary events in Afghan history.
>Delegates from all backgrounds - Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks; city
>and rural; Sunni and Shiite - sat together under one roof as if we belonged
>to a single village.  Men and women mingled openly and comfortably. In
>tolerant and lively exchanges, we discussed the compatibility of women's
>rights with our Islamic traditions. Women played a leading role at these
>meetings.  We were living proof against the false stereotypes that Afghans
>are divided by ethnic hatreds, that we are a backward people not ready for
>democracy and equality.
>
>Within a day we had developed a common wish list focused on national
>unity, peace and security. We  also emphasized access to food, education
>and health services in neglected rural areas. But the one issue that united
>the delegates  above all others was the urgency of reducing the  power of
>warlords and establishing a truly representative government.
>
>This  sentiment quickly grew into a grassroots movement supporting
>former king Mohammed Zahir Shah as head of state. The vast majority of us
>viewed him as the only leader with enough popular support and independence
>to stand up to the warlords. But our democratic effort to nominate Zahir
>Shah did not please the powers that be. As a result, the entire loya jirga
>was postponed for almost two days while the former king was strong-armed
>into renouncing any meaningful role in the government.
>
>After that announcement, the  atmosphere at the loya jirga changed
>radically. The gathering was now teeming with intelligence agents who
>openly threatened reform-minded delegates, especially women.  Access to the
>microphone was controlled so that supporters of the interim
>government dominated the proceedings.  Fundamentalist leaders branded
>critics of the warlords as traitors to Islam, and circulated a petition
>denouncing Women's Affairs Minister Samar as the ``Afghanistan's Salman
>Rushdie.''
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>Aware that in our country political intimidation can move quickly into
>violence, many delegates lost the will to demand their democratic
>rights.  A leading activist for women's rights, who prefers to remain
>anonymous due to these threats, explained: ``Today we are loya jirga
>delegates, but tomorrow we go home as individuals. Who will protect us if
>we continue to express our views and fight for our rights?''
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>Of course we are discouraged that our experiment in grassroots
>democracy was suppressed. We are disappointed that our leaders are not
>willing to recognize women's rightful participation. Above all, we regret
>that they and the international community abandoned any commitment to
>democratic rights as soon as we sought to exercise those rights.
>
>Yet we still believe that this is the beginning and not the end, that
>the seeds of democracy planted by the loya jirga will take root and
>flourish. We saw at the opening of the loya jirga that it is possible to
>forge new friendships and alliances across regional, ethnic and gender
>lines.
>
>Even without modern communications word travels fast in Afghanistan.  As
>loya jirga delegates return home, every town and village will gather to
>discuss and debate what happened.  The initial experience of democracy we
>had in Kabul can be replicated and developed into new forms of political
>expression and organization.
>
>The course of the loya jirga demonstrated that powerful forces inside
>and outside the country remain categorically opposed to democratic
>accountability. The dangers of challenging the  power of the gun,
>especially in the absence of genuine international support for the rule of
>law, are substantial. But the reactions we saw on the streets of Kabul
>showed that the popular will of Afghans will not tolerate a retreat into
>the past.
>
>* Omar Zakhilwal, an economics professor at Ottawa University, and Adeena
>Niazi, president of the Afghan Womens Association of Ontario, Canada, were
>delegates to the loya jirga in Afghanistan. Mr. Zakhilwal co-authored a
>recent human rights report on Afghanistan for the Center for  Economic and
>Social Rights.
>
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