KARZAI GOVERNMENT FACES TESTS
August 2003

Afghanistan's transitional administration faces critical challenges in the months ahead, as it prepares a new constitution and attempts to organize open political participation amidst a tenuous security situation.

Online NewsHour Special Report: Rebuilding Afghanistan Aug. 2003: The Government The Humanitarian Situation The Life of Women Building a Free Press Aug. 5, 2003: Continuing attempts to bring stability to Afghanistan. April 16, 2003: Finance minister Ashraf Ghani discusses the lessons learned. Jan. 14, 2003: An Afghan finance official on Kabul's efforts to create a new currency. Nov. 21, 2002: The Turkish commander of the international peacekeeping force Sept. 5, 2002: Assassination attempt on Hamid Karzai Aug. 20, 2002: An update on efforts to bring stability to the war-torn nation July 25, 2002: Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah June 11, 2002: Afghanistan's loya jirga meets to compose the new Afghan government. April 24, 2002: Afghanistan's minister of women's affairs   Afghanistan Rebuilds its Education System 08.06.03 My Story: Afghanistan as I Saw it. Rebuilding Afghanistan: After two decades of war, the country begins to rebuild. 09.11.02 Building a New Afghanistan: Leaders elect a familiar face to lead the country. 06.20.02 Afghanistan Anew: Hundreds will meet to create a new government. 06.05.02     International Red Cross Humanitarian Relief in Afghanistan Afghanistan Relief Organization Afghanistan Relief International CARE: Rebuilding Afghanistan Islamic Relief Afghanistan Humanitarian Emergency Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan

In the wake of U.S.-led military action to oust the Taliban regime, a December 2001 international accord known as the Bonn Agreement created the interim authority, stipulating that a constitution should be written and approved within 18 months of its establishment. The government's U.S.-backed president, Hamid Karzai, was chosen during a June 2002 loya jirga -- or grand Afghan council -- which brought together a representative cross-section of Afghanistan's 32 provinces through more than 1,000 delegates of every ethnicity, background and occupation. The Bonn Agreement gave the transitional government two years from the 2002 loya jirga to hold "free and fair" democratic elections, among myriad civil and other basic service reforms calling for attention in the war-scarred South Asian nation. Karzai's rebuilding plan, the National Program for Reconstruction, intended to use the wave of humanitarian and external assistance offered to Afghanistan to build a competitive private sector that could fuel a new economic base for the country. But progress on the national program has been slow, in part because of difficulty stabilizing the central government's authority outside the capital, Kabul, and organizing citizen participation in a new democratic process after years of restrictive Taliban rule. The transitional administration has had some success in its internal relations. The Afghan finance minister recently collected some $20 million USD in customs revenues from the leader of the Herat province, evidence of the periphery's cooperation. However, in a report to the United Nations Security Council in mid-June, Undersecretary General Jean-Marie Guehenno called the transitional government's control of regional areas "much too limited." "The majority of provincial authorities continue to act with an autonomy that denies the Transitional Administration the means to implement its National Development Plan," he said. "Yet, the administration must deliver to the population, as a whole, basic improvements in their economic and physical security, if it is to be credible." "And it is clear that the population's patience is wearing thin," Guehenno added. The Karzai government hopes that the August 11 NATO takeover of international peacekeeping operations will mean foreign patrols can expand outside of Kabul. This would aid its efforts to stabilize areas largely run by state governors or, in some cases, regional warlords. A NATO spokesman said that while the organization is prepared to stay in Kabul beyond the U.N.-mandated timetable of June 2004 if necessary, there were no plans to extend the peacekeeping role outside of Kabul. Commander Jack Deverell, who will have operational command in Afghanistan, said, "The mandate is very specific and it was laid down by the United Nations and there will be no change to that mandate unless the nations and the North Atlantic Council decide that there will be changes." Deverell's comments appeared in an interview posted on NATO's Web site. "It is not just a matter of drawing bigger and bigger lines around Kabul and filling them with soldiers," Deverell said, stressing the importance of humanitarian, legal and social sectors coming into compliance with the interim authority's goals. Another key piece of the interim government's electoral plan hinges on its next loya jirga, planned for October 2003, which will meet expressly to approve a draft constitution. A government-appointed Constitutional Commission, including more than 30 members, is charged with facilitating the constitution-making process and has included attempts to consult Afghan citizens as to what type of government the document should outline. The commission, which works in conjunction with the U.N's Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), has reportedly encountered difficulty in polling Afghans freely, due to intimidation by powerful warlords and Islamic fundamentalist commanders still wielding power in certain regions. A UNAMA spokesman told the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) that "in some areas people were told in advance what they have to say about the constitution." "The commission has been holding three types of meetings: to give general information, to solicit comments from invited individuals, and to talk to groups such as women, religious scholars, tribal elders or young people," Manoel de Almeida e Silva told IWPR. To offset potential intimidation from regional leaders, the commission holds small meetings and has been accompanied by Kabul police, according to the report. Sayed Ishaq Gailani, head of the National Solidarity Movement of Afghanistan, denounced the beleaguered electoral process in an interview with Reuters, saying it will be next to impossible for Afghans to vote properly in a June 2004 election when it remains unclear what type of system the country should have. Gailani is an avid supporter of Afghanistan's 88-year-old former King Zahir Shah and considers himself a possible candidate to lead the new government, which could include an elected parliament. "People have faced nothing but trouble, injustice and war," Gailani told Reuters. "People believe a monarchy could save them from these troubles." Still others want the constitution to comply with the standards of Islamic law, an issue that could prove challenging, since scholars tend to interpret Islamic law differently. In the absence of a formal legal system, the transitional government follows traditional Islamic law, or Sharia. For example, two Afghan farmers told IWPR that they want to see "an Islamic democratic central government which has a capable and strong president." The commission is charged with circulating a draft copy of the constitution for the public's dissemination ahead of the loya jirga's meeting to adopt and confer legitimacy on the document. Currently, the commission plans to circulate a draft in September. According to the Karzai government, some of the biggest challenges to the electoral process are logistical, such as its attempts to register all Afghans with a national identification card. Efforts are also underway by the U.N. and others to encourage Afghan refugees in nearby Pakistan and Iran to register and participate in the electoral process. Still, security concerns pervade almost every issue facing the transitional administration, and hamper the efforts of non-governmental and other organizations attempting to assist in creating a legitimate political process. "The election process is fundamentally a shared responsibility between the government, the U.N. and the international community," U.N. Undersecretary General Guehenno said in his Security Council report. "The feasibility of conducting the [electoral] registration and its ultimate credibility will depend not only upon the various technical contributions to the management of the registration process from the U.N. and the government, but critically upon the effective creation of an improved political environment, and most important, on security." -- By Maureen Hoch, Online NewsHour