South Asia » Afghanistan
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Afghan lawmakers squabble in first postwar parliament
Associated Press
Kabul, December 21, 2005
Afghanistan's new parliament has conjured up the same demons that haunted the nation during decades of civil war, with one lawmaker demanding that warlords - some of whom won seats in the legislature - be brought to justice.
As Tuesday's session teetered on the brink of collapse, a purported statement forwarded to the agency from fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar underscored the precarious situation of the new body.
Omar called the parliament "fake." Also Tuesday, a suicide bombing wounded three Italian peacekeepers and three civilians.
The attack took place as the national assembly convened its first working session in the capital, Kabul, a day after it was inaugurated in an emotional ceremony.
Good feelings quickly gave way to a stormy debate over procedural matters as well as the potentially explosive issue of warlords sitting among the elected representatives.
One delegate, Malali Joya, called for all of Afghanistan's human rights abusers and "criminal warlords" to be brought to justice.
Delegates responded by pounding their fists on the tables to demand she sit down. But she refused, shouting that it was her right as an elected official to speak her mind.
Another delegate, Sayed Mubat Shah, appealed for calm. "We have a big responsibility," he said. "We all have equal rights. We are the voice of the Afghan people."
Joya rose to prominence with a similar display at the 2003 LoyaJirga, or grand council, under which Afghanistan's constitution was hammered out.
Among those in the parliament with allegedly bloody pasts are Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a militia leader accused of war crimes by Human Rights Watch, and Abdul Salaam Rocketi, a former Taliban commander who has since reconciled with the government.
The popularly elected parliament marked Afghanistan's final step in its transition to democracy after US-led forces ousted the hard-line Taliban regime four years ago for sheltering Osama bin Laden.
The country has had no elected national assembly since 1973, after which coups and a Soviet invasion plunged it into decades of chaos that killed than 1 million people.
That period was followed by the rule of the Islamic extremist Taliban militia.
A written statement, purportedly from Mullah Omar and forwarded to the agency in Pakistan by e-mail on Tuesday, condemned the parliament and claimed the Taliban rebellion was strengthening.
"Now a fake parliament has come into being, inaugurated by the American Vice President Dick Cheney," the statement said. Cheney attendedthe parliament's inauguration during a brief visit on Monday.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.