| 2003 Loya Jirga |
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| 2003 | |
| loya jirga | |
| history of afghanistan | |
| politics of afghanistan | |
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ISSUES ADDRESSED Issues involving substantial debate included whether Dari or Pashto should be the official language, whether former king Mohammed Zahir Shah should maintain the title "father of the nation," how to address women's rights, whether Afghanistan should be a Free Market Economy , and whether higher education should be free. The most pressing issue, however, was the question of centralized power. Interim President Hamid Karzai supported a constitution draft outlining a strong president and stated that he would not run for the office in 2004 if the draft was not approved. Members of the Tajik -dominated Northern Alliance accused Karzai of buying off opponents with promises of influential positions in a post-election government. On January 1 , the loya jirga broke down when close to half of the assembly, consisting mostly of Uzbek , Tajik, Hazara and Turkmen minorities, boycotted the first and only ballot, forcing chairman Sibghatullah Mojaddedi to call for a 2-day adjourning. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN, CONTROVERSY The Loya jirga convened beneath a large tent on the grounds of a Soviet-built university. In the opening ceremonies of 14 December , former king Mohammad Zahir Shah addressed the assembly after a dozen children in diverse ethnic outfits, waved Afghan flags, and sang songs of peace, which included verses such as "We are doves, waiting for peace, we are tired of fighting." Later that day in a second vote, Mojaddedi was elected the chairman by a majority vote of 252. Hafiz Mansour had garnered only 154 votes (not a majority) in the first vote. The election of Mojaddedi as chairman produced outrage from many of the 114 female delegates. To appease their concerns, Mojadedi selected Safia Sediqi for the fourth deputy position, and he named two other women as deputy's assistants, but the move did not pacify the women. Also that day, claiming the support of 241 delegates, the Northern Alliance demanded that 50 delegates picked by Karzai be denied voting rights; however Mojaddedi rejected the idea. Some government and supreme court officials, as well as members of legal and human rights commissions, were allowed to attend but only allowed to participate when asked for their opinions by an elected delegate. Provincial governors and top-ranking police, administration and military officials were barred from the proceedings. |
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