KABUL (PAN): President Hamid Karzai's new cabinet picks are all poised to appear for approval before the Wolesi Jirga for approval today, hours after the parliament was called into session. At the outset of Saturday's session, Speaker Yunus Qanuni said Second Vice-President Karim Khalili would introduce the remaining cabinet nominees to legislators for vetting and voting. Khalili will speak briefly about the backgrounds of the ministers-designate before acting Parliamentary Affairs Minister Muhammad Anwar Jagdalak's short speech to lawmakers. Following their introduction, Qanuni added, the nominees' documents would be examined on Sunday. A day later, the cabinet picks will inform the Lower House of their respective plans and priorities. In a setback to the president, the Wolesi Jirga rejected 17 of the 24 cabinet nominees. A reliable official source confided to Pajhwok Afghan News that the new list included three women -- Palwasha Hasan for the portfolio of women's affairs, Amina Afzali for work and social affairs, and Surayya Daleel for public health. The preliminary list contained only one female for the ministry of women affairs, Husn Banu Ghazanfar, who failed to get the trust vote from lawmakers on last Saturday. mud
