The Evening Post

Sep 9, 2010

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MPs struggle to find voice

In Afghanistan, lawmakers are increasingly ignored

KABUL In Afghanistan’s parliament, former enemies politely wait their turn to speak, and women debate with warlords. The Kabul government and its backers regularly cite the country’s first parliament in more than 30 years as one of the great achievements of the post-Taliban era. “This gathering shows that all of the people of Afghanistan are unified,” President Hamid Karzai said at the swearing-in ceremony on December 19 last year. The 91-year-old former king Zahir Shah felt it was “a step towards rebuilding Afghanistan after decades of fighting. The people of Afghanistan will succeed!” he exclaimed to applause from the new members of parliament, and guests who included US Vice-President Dick Cheney. In a recent debate in the Wolesi Jirga, or lower house, the VIPs were absent, but the slogans were similar. “In our 5,000-year history, Afghans have defeated every country that has invaded us,” one MP said. “All of us here in the parliament should stand together, for the sake of the unity of our country.” That day the MPs were discussing one of the key challenges facing Afghanistan – how to stop the insurgents crossing the border with Pakistan. But for all the fighting talk, at the end of the debate, they could only agree on one course of action – to issue a press release condemning a statement allegedly made by Pakistan’s foreign minister. This seems illustrative of the fact that beyond its symbolic importance, Afghanistan’s parliament has little to show for its first year – a period that has coincided with the escalation of conflict in the south and east of the country. Malalai Shinwari, one of the 68 women, admits the MPs are still learning their jobs. “As the representatives of the people, we should advise the government make good policy,” she said. “We do have power in our hands. But it is now up to us to decide how to use that power.” In May MPs flexed their muscles for the first time, and used their powers to veto President Karzai’s nominee for chief justice of the Supreme Court, and five of his ministers. But according to Nasima Niazi, who represents Helmand province, where British troops have been battling the Taliban, at other times they are simply ignored. She says that neither Nato nor the Afghan army have involved them in their struggle to defeat the insurgents by “winning hearts and minds” in Helmand. “We are not happy because the government does not consult us about the problems in Helmand, and neither do the international forces,” she said. “Even when we asked for a meeting with the authorities there, they said they didn’t care who we were.” Within the assembly, too, she says she sometimes finds it hard to make herself heard by conservatives. “Most of them don’t want to hear women’s voices, and turn off our microphones, but we will continue with our struggle,” she said. “We want to be listened to, like women in other countries’ parliaments.” (BBC News)