By DPA,
Kabul: Afghanistan’s parliament rejected more than half of President Hamid Karzai’s cabinet nominees Saturday, after 70 per cent of his choices had been denied in a previous round.
The lawmakers rejected 10 of the 17 appointments, including two women nominees, presented to the lower house by Karzai. Only one woman won approval: Amena Afzali as minister of work and social affairs.
The Afghan parliament also approved Zalmai Rasool as minister of foreign affairs. Rasool was a national security advisor for Karzai during the president’s first term.
More than 220 parliamentarians cast their vote in a secret ballot after a week in which the candidates made presentations on their platforms and programs.
The rejections were seen as a major setback for Karzai, who wanted to have a functioning government before a January 28 international conference in London on Afghanistan.
In an unprecedented move earlier this month, the lower house rejected 17 – or 70 per cent – of the president’s original nominees, prolonging the two months of political uncertainty since Karzai was elected for a second term in November in a poll marred by widespread fraud.
Only seven key ministers, including the defence, interior and finance portfolios, cleared the vote of confidence in the first round.
During more than a week of hearings, legislators complained that the new nominees were even less qualified than the previous ones, and said that most were selected because of their ties with major political power brokers.
Lawmakers had said earlier on Saturday that one of the nominees, Jararullah Mansoori, who was nominated for the Rural Development portfolio, lied about his age in order to be eligible for the post.
According to several documents seen by the DPA, Mansoori is 31 years old, three years short of an age required in country’s constitution.
But despite the discrepancies, Mansoori was approved by the lawmakers Saturday.
Zarar Ahmad Muqbil, a former interior minister until early last year, was also one of the seven nominees approved by the parliament for the ministry of counter narcotics. During his time as interior minister, Muqbil was widely criticized by the international community for his inability to clamp down on corrupt police officials.
Both Mansoori and Muqbil are close allies of Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim, Karzai’s first vice president.
“Of course some of the rejected nominees were incompetent,” Daoud Sultanzoy, a member of parliament from southern province of Ghazni told DPA. “There were also political deals; for example two of the women candidates had better programs than the ones who won approval, but they were rejected.”