Skip to main content

Why Karzai Questioned the Constitution?

Hamid Karzai questioned parts of Afghan constitution as he spoke earlier this week during a gathering to mark the seventh adoption year of Afghanistan's post-Taliban Constitution, January 4, 2011 in Kabul.

By Hanan Habibzai
He wants redical changes in the constitution


The rule of Law is crucial in Afghanistan to protect ordinary public and to provide them opportunities to assert meaning for political process and access the information. For this, the formation of Afghan constitution has been funded by international community to legitimise the war torn country, but everyone saw, how Afghan government was abusing a law that cost billions of dollars and detriments.


I also rarely see any international care to the constitution of Afghanistan. It has not been enforced since its creation. If you look at recent documents released by Wikileaks you will better judge how the constitution of Afghanistan is neglected by high profile officials from the end to the top. Earlier this week Hamid Karzai addressed a gathering on the 7th anniversary of Afghan constitution where he calls it an incomplete law.

He pointed out a possible Loya Jirgah to solve, what he called’ the imperfect parts’ of the constitution. He didn’t reveal which part of constitution he believes, has to be updated.  But this is clear that he means the constitution should be changed in his favour when he debates the constitution for its restriction on third term of presidency because it doesn't recommend office for third time, hence he wants to amend particular fragment of the law.


Reports suggest that a couple of days earlier he met number of northern alliance’s warlords to discuss the proposal but it is yet to be confirmed whether, they agreed or not? Apparently they should be supportive of him because Karzai is a perfect choice for the war criminals as they all hold key official posts in his government. If they reject his proposal, it may result in the collapse of northern alliance era, and an alliance of warlords won’t be able to continue without Karzai.


1.      Most of the major businesses and foreign contracts are owned by high profile Afghan officials including Karzai’s family, his two deputies and cabinet ministers. They don’t want to lose high amounts of financial wages.
2.      Most of northern alliances are listed as human rights abusers and violent foes having to be tried as expected of a justice procedure. President Karzai has given them protection, so they want Karzai free in hand to own key businesses, without him northern alliances are nothing, but will face immediate justice for their past their crimes.

This form of efforts may lead the country toward another period of mobocracy and the political instability, because Afghanistan is not Egypt to tolerate a Husani Mubarak. Afghanistan faces Taliban movement which has an increasing control over the belief of ordinary Afghans. There is a huge gap of confidence between Karzai and the ordinary public; decade of experience resulted detestation, a huge price which ordinary Afghans paid since the US invasion of war shattered country, the people who was disparately looking for peace and prosperity.

The promises he made during years never come true, instead increasing violence becomes widespread. The bribery and official corruption becomes an everyday business within Karzai’s administration; high ranking officials remain involved in extensive political and financial venality.

High profile officials in Kabul involved in corruption can’t even see a better future for their kids and themselves in Afghanistan, thus they need to transfer huge amount of state money to the foreign countries. Most of the cabinet ministers left their families abroad, for the reason they can’t trust the current situation. Since the reality was familiarised in the ground, even an Afghan teenager can simply feel it.

More troops and more military efforts mean more civilians going to be killed; more women and men will witness the deaths of their sweethearts so the violence will kept continue. The stalemate which cannot be broken by military means, the widespread corruption within Afghan government, and the unjust causes push more and more Afghans in the Taliban side.

Imagine a victim sees her/his sweetheart’s killer dressed in official recruitments and acting like a hero, then what’s happening? You know that, he/she has no option but to join the Taliban.

Therefore, the Taliban still effectively controls a vast swath of the country where government and international forces can only venture out of their heavily reinforced bases with air support, because the Taliban offers alternatives to the poor villagers, and also using links, increasing gorilla control within non-Pashtun areas too. The issue of civilian deaths is increased anger towards the international community over a much broader set of concerns.

So, we still have troubles to win the battle of hearts and minds. Back to constitution, If Karzai’s recent statement on constitution is nothing to do with his interest to remain in power then what else it should be? Why Karzai questioned the constitution?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Modern Day Child Prostitution in Kabul, Afghanistan: Children are used as Sex Workers in Afghanistan to Serve Foreigners

An eyewitness piece: Modern Day Child Prostitution in Kabul, Afghanistan: Children are used as Sex Workers in Afghanistan to Serve Foreigners. “The police told my mother that she will not receive my father’s retirement check for working at the Ministry of Agriculture unless I work as a prostitute serving foreigners. My mother at first refused but she relented once the police told her that I would be able to keep 60% of the pay and be able to keep supporting my mom and 6 brothers and sisters and the other 40% would go to the police,” says Ara. By James Van Thach  Salem-News.com 12-year-old girl named Ara Atta says, “My father was killed by the Americans because he did not stop his car at a checkpoint.  (KABUL) - When we hear about the news in Afghanistan, the mainstream media tells us stories of explosions and deaths of military personnel and civilians. A story that is not being told is of child prostitution slavery in Afghanistan. “There is a police ope
Post a Comment
Read more

Afghanistan: “It’s Just Damage Limitation Now”

By Mark Thompson Source:  time.com   Briton Ben Anderson is a documentary filmmaker (the BBC, HBO, the Discovery Channel), but he turns to the written word in No Worse Enemy : The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan . The book offers a gritty – and grim — assessment of the war. Anderson embedded with U.S. and British troops for months in the southern part of the country from 2007 to 2011. He details corruption, incompetence, fear — by both allied troops and Afghan civilians — and a Groundhog Day kind of existence., where a battle fought for days has to be fought again, later. Most distressingly, he argues that the American and British publics are getting a misleading picture of progress on the ground. Battleland conducted this email chat with Anderson last weekend. Why did you write No Worse Enemy: The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan? I’d been travelling to Helmand for five years, first in 2007 with the Brits, then later
2 comments
Read more

There are non-Taliban poets in the 'Poetry of the Taliban’

By Hanan Habibzai It is truly a matter of controversy as it appears that non-Taliban Afghan poets are presented as Taliban. It is a matter of shock to read in the Independent that Ezatullah Zawab, a permanent journalist and poet, is Taliban poet. It is still unclear how many more (non-Taliban names) are there in the ‘ Poetry of the Taliban ’. Zawab is not a Taliban but a critic of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and the continuous political and social corruption within Karzai’s government. He studied at the Nangrahar University, working as a freelance journalist since 2001 in eastern Afghanistan. His reports mainly published by IWPR and the Pajhwok Afghan News . He was among the first journalists who covered the killing of tens of civilians in June 2008 where American-led air-strike bombed a wedding convoy in Shinwari district in eastern Nangrahar province killing more than 55 civilians including the bride. Most of the victims were children and women. In the aftermat
Post a Comment
Read more