KABUL (PAN): President Hamid Karzai has directed the Wolesi Jirga, or Lower House of Parliament, to suspend its winter recess until the completion of voting on his new cabinet picks. In a decree issued on Monday, the president said new cabinet nominees would be introduced to the house for a vote of confidence in several days. He asked the Wolesi Jirga to stay in session until the process was finalised. A spokesman for the Cabinet Secretariat, confirming the presidential decree, said new ministers-designate would be introduced soon in place of those rejected by parliamentarians. But Faizi Zadran, speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, gave no exact date for the new nominations. Eleven of the 24 cabinet picks introduced by Karzai to parliament for approval were new faces. Only seven of them were approved by parliamentarians. Among those rejected were men from different groups, parties and jihadi organisations led by strongmen like Muhammad Mohaqiq, Rashid Dostum, Pir Sayed Ahmad Gilani and Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf. Those who failed to get the trust vote included Muhammadullah Batash, Wais Ahmad Barmak, Enayatullah Baleegh, Obaidullah Obaid, Eng. Mirza Hussain Abdullahai, Ghulam Muhammad Yailaqi, Enayatullah Nazari, Sayed Hamid Gilani and Muhammad Ismail Munshi. Anwarul Haq Ahadi, who resigned as finance minister before the presidential elections, was also rejected by the Wolesi Jirga. Also denied the trust vote were former ministers Amirzai Sangin, Sarwar Danish, Dr. Sayed Muhammad Amin Fatimi, Muhammad Ismail Khan, Husn Bano Ghazanfar, General Khodaidad and Muhammad Yousaf Pakhtun. Wolesi Jirga Speaker Yunus Qanuni acknowledged the president had discussed with him over the telephone the decree calling for postponing the winter break. Karzai asked for talks with legislators in this regard, he added. On the other hand, some lawmakers want to rise for the annual recess. A public representative from southern Ghazni province, Daud Sultanzoy, said they were ready to vet and vote on the nominees, only if presented together before the house. Otherwise, he explained, they would not surrender their winter break. But Fazlullah Mujaddedi, parliamentarian from central Logar province, differed with Sultanzoy. He believed the session should go on till the completion of the voting, which is widely seen as reflective of parliament's increasing assertion of its constitutional authority. mud
