Afghanistan delays opening parliament for a month

KABUL - The opening of Afghanistan's new fraud-hit parliament will be delayed by a month, President Hamid Karzai's office said Wednesday, after a judge demanded more time to rule on alleged irregularities.

The new Wolesi Jirga was expected to be inaugurated on January 23 but the date has now been pushed back to February 22 to allow a special tribunal of the Supreme Court to decide whether some disputed winners should be thrown out.

The U-turn came hours after the tribunal's Karzai-endorsed chief, Judge Sidiqullah Haqiq, was cheered on by losing candidates as he called for the inauguration date to be changed.

September's parliamentary elections were hit by fraud and violence and resulted in a weak showing for the Pashtuns, Afghanistan's biggest single ethnic group and Karzai's traditional power base.

Some experts now predict the court, which is considering over 400 cases of alleged fraud, will rule in favour of minor changes.

This could mean the parliament eventually features more Pashtuns, thought to make up about 42 percent of all Afghans but only 32 percent of the new parliamentary intake.

Following the poll on September 18, electoral authorities disqualified 24 early winners including allies of the president and threw out around a quarter of about five million votes cast.

The attorney general's office later called for the results to be annulled, saying the vote was marred by massive fraud. Karzai himself has yet to endorse the outcome.

In a statement released late Wednesday, Karzai's aides said: "The president's office, respecting the demand by the court, delays the inauguration of the parliament until (February 22) of the current year."

It insisted that the inauguration would take place on this date "without any further delay".

And in an apparent reference to the court's work, the statement said that Karzai's office "dema! nds that all required actions be taken in this period."

The situation is being watched carefully by Western diplomats.

International troops fighting the Pashtun-dominated Taliban are due to start limited, conditions-based withdrawals in July ahead of Afghan forces assuming control of security in 2014.

The announcement from the presidential palace came hours after Judge Haqiq of the special tribunal called for the inauguration to be delayed "at least for a month.

He told reporters at a press conference that it was "possible that the court will rule on recounting such votes."

Dozens of losing candidates attending event in Kabul shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is greater) in jubilation as he made the announcement.

One of the losers told AFP after the statement from Karzai's office that he was now optimistic that a "representative" parliament would emerge.

"I think we have embarked on an interesting and historic journey," said Daud Sultanzaoy, a losing candidate from southeastern Ghazni province where, despite a large Pashtun population, the Hazara ethnic group won all 11 election seats.

"We are optimistic that a parliament representative of the will of the people will emerge... (which) will reinstall the confidence of people in the election and democracy."

Political analyst Omar Sharifi predicted that "minor changes at most" would be made as a result of the special tribunal's rulings.

He said it was probable that the consequence would be "bringing in some people and especially some of the tribal elite close to (Karzai)."

Many winning candidates still challenge the authority of the special tribunal and Sharifi said their reaction to the latest news would be key.

"The question will remain, what will be the reaction from the parliament?" he said.

"From the winners, there will be a lot of opposition but if there is not many changes, I think it will go ahead."