Karzai to name top posts

An Afghan watches the new president's speech to the assembly in a Kabul electronics store

KABUL, Afghanistan -- New Afghan President Hamid Karzai is expected to announce key cabinet positions in the next 24 hours, but the make-up of the troubled nation's legislature is still unresolved.

The issue has created an impasse at the loya jirga, or grand assembly, meeting in the capital, Kabul, with many delegates walking out in protest after a week of fruitless debate.

An aide to Karzai said Monday the president was expected to announce his top ministers -- defense, interior, justice, finance and probably foreign affairs -- to the assembly on Tuesday.

"We hope a decision on the key posts will be announced tomorrow," aide Ashraf Qani Ahmadzai told a joint news conference with interim foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.

AUDIO With Afghanistan's loya jirga encountering difficulties, newly-elected leader Hamid Karzai will try to get the talks back on track. Gary Tuchman reports. 1.99MB / 3 mins. 09 secs. WAV sound   CNN NewsPass VIDEO CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on the election of Afghanistan interim leader Hamid Karzai to a two-year term as president Play video   LOYA JIRGA Focus: A very Afghan gathering  Profile: Key players

Abdullah said that under the U.N.-sponsored Bonn accord that made Karzai interim leader, only top posts would be presented to the loya jirga for approval with the final decision on the other cabinet posts resting with Karzai, Reuters reports.

The choice of cabinet members has been a bone of contention between Karzai and the loya jirga, which insists on a mandate to approve all the ministers.

It is unclear whether the loya jirga will vote on the senior ministers or there would simply be an announcement of Karzai's choices.

Karzai told the assembly Monday he wants a transparent and accountable government with public participation and a series of commissions and advisers to guide him through the transition period to general elections in 18 months time.

More than half the delegates to Afghanistan's loya jirga have walked out of the assembly, condemning what they described as "boring" speeches to the grand council and the sidestepping of key issues.

But only about half the assembly heard the new president's address; the rest had walked out in protests, saying there were too many long, boring speeches and too little action on creating the nation's new government.

Monday was the assembly's last scheduled day to meet, unless it decides to extend its session again.

"There's no point hanging around listening to boring speeches so we're leaving," delegate Sayed Nimatullah told Reuters as he left.

"Karzai should be here discussing important issues like the new parliament. This is interference by foreign countries and a violation of the Bonn agreement."

Another delegate told reporters that fresh fighting could erupt in the war-torn country if the assembly failed to agree on a new government.

Disappointed

"I am really disappointed with the loya jirga," delegate Mullah Abdul Karim said.

"Governors and officials are telling people what to say in their speeches. The main issues have not been discussed so far. If it goes on like this, fighting could restart because Karzai does not have the support of the majority of the people," he said.

The 1,600 delegates attending the Kabul gathering nominated Karzai as president last week -- the one task the assembly has accomplished.

So far, however, they have failed to agree on the format of a legislature to work with the new leader, caught in debate between an assembly based on geography and one based on population.

Loya jirga chairman Ismael Qasimyar offered delegates a choice of either two representatives for each of the 32 provinces, the initial idea endorsed by the loya jirga commission, or one representative for every 10 of the nearly 1,600 delegates.

Minority ethnic groups from northern Afghanistan support the one representative theory. But the ethnic Pashtuns, who claim to compose 65 per cent of the country's population, said choosing one assembly delegate for every 10 loya jirga delegates would render them voiceless in the legislative branch of a new government.

Formula

Pashtuns have advocated the idea of one representative for each of the 381 districts in Afghanistan, saying it is the only fair way to build an assembly.

"They want some kind of formula," Gulbadan Habibi, a delegate representing Afghans from the East Coast of the United States told The Associated Press.

"One says, 'OK, if my district's population is 2,000 people and this other one is 500, it's not fair if we have the same representatives'."

Without an independent census having been conducted in Afghanistan in decades, and with confusion among delegates over the instructions, Sunday's session was adjourned after hours of chaotic scenes.

Role of Islam

Delegates have complained of delaying tactics and intimidation

Some delegates have complained the process is being unduly influenced by warlords who have created an atmosphere of intimidation.

Among the controversial topics some were afraid to speak out on was the role of Islam in a new government.

On Friday, three Afghan delegates, all former fighters against the Soviets, urged the loya jirga to include the name of Islam in the next government -- making it the transitional Islamic Afghan government. Delegates rose to their feet in unison to applaud.

Despite the show of unanimity, some dissenters said Islam had been misapplied in the past -- a reference to the Taliban's austere brand of religion.

Kandahar governor Gul Agha drew jeers when he said: "The Islamic name should be omitted from the government because in the past it has been misused."

His opinion was shared by other delegates who weren't given the microphone -- and who complained that ordinary delegates were being sidelined by religious and political leaders.