Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Karzai Nominations- Update

President Karzai has ordered, by decree, that Parliament remain open until key Cabinet positions are confirmed. Currently seventeen of the twenty-four positions remain vacant, including the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Public Health. Unfortunately, Parliament is set to begin a six week vacation (apparently they have inherited American legislators' love of vacations) and remain unlikely to confirm Karzai's second choices anyway.

Karzai is currently trapped between placating members of Parliament, who wanted skilled technocrats to lead important ministries, and warlords that want to be rewarded for their political support in the presidential elections last August. Maybe there's some way Karzai could split the baby by appointing technocrats who fill ethnic and regional niches being asked of by warlords, but that's just me talking. The warlords may be making more hardline demands than that.

We'll remain on this story as it develops.

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