Even the Upper House does not listen to the President
Author : Obaid Ali
Published: 22 February 2011
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In an unusual development in present-day Afghanistan, the Meshrano Jirga (also called
Senate, the upper house of the Parliament) achieved a fully operative status. The recent
introduction of the appointed senators by President Karzai, although delayed, has made
it one of the few state institutions with no missing, expired or unapproved (acting)
members. It even duly elected its chairman and administrative board, although the fact
that it was done before the senate was complete has complicated matters. AAN’s
researcher Obaid Ali, and his colleagues, report on this remarkable institutional
exception.
While the crises over the speaker’s election in the Wolesi Jirga deepened day by day, not in the
least due to some overt and covert interference from different sides, the senators successfully
elected their chairman and its administrative board on 29 January 2011. The vote was held in
the absence of the 34 members (one-third of the house's members) who were to be appointed
by the President. This rang an alarm bell with President Karzai who, on 30 January 2011,
sought the advice of the Independent Commission for the Supervision of the Implementation of
the Constitution on the validity of such election. The opinion of the commission, issued on the
same day, was indeed favourable to the President’s rejection of the senators' decision, but the
'view' was dismissed the next day by the majority of the Meshrano Jirga, the elected speaker
and his administrative delegates as 'irrelevant and unfounded'.
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Referring to article 84 of the constitution, commission chairman Gul Rahman Qazi argued that
while the elected members of the Senate stay in office for four years (as they are all chosen
from among the provincial council members), the mandate of the Senate Speaker is five years,
which means that elected members of the house cannot hold that position.(*) The commission's
final advice was to hold a new round of elections once the senate was complete.
In the run-up to the inauguration of the parliament there had been repeated calls to the
President to introduce his nominees, so that the complete National Assembly (Afghanista's
parliament, consisting of both houses) could be inaugurated. Maulawi Abdul Wahab Irfan, a
senator from Takhar, reported that after the inauguration on 27 January, the senators held a
meeting and again called on the President to introduce his appointments. When he failed to do
so, Fazl-ul-Hadi Muslimyar and Abdul Anan Aqayun were nominated as candidates for the
speaker position two days later, the latter eventually stepping down from the race before the
vote. All 65 senators present showed their green card in acceptance of Muslimyar, while the
three that were absent (one in Ghor province and two in India for medical treatment), agreed
with the majority over the phone to elect him as the new speaker.
The senators met President Karzai on 1 February 2011, one day after the internal election of
the speaker and the administrative board had taken place. Deputy Speaker Muhammad Alam
Izedyar later reported to AAN: ‘President Karzai said the election for the speaker post may
have been in line with the constitution, but it had not been in line with "andiwali" (friendship).'
Karzai reportedly added that ‘you should have waited for your friends [i.e. the missing 34
senators] to join the chamber, and then you should have held the speaker election’. The
President did not clarify when he would introduce his new appointments, although he mentioned
that they would probably include Sebghatullah Mujaddedi, along with some of the defeated
candidates of the parliamentary election. ‘Some provinces might have three or four senators,
while others may have none’, Karzai told them.
The senators asked the President to introduce the missing members soon, so that they could
take part in the elections for the senate committee heads, whereas a further delay by the
President meant that they would have the chance to do so only in the next round, which is held
after one year. At the same time, the Meshrano Jirga members decided to proceed according to
its own time schedule.
A senator from Badakshan, Golalai Akbari, told AAN that the upper house was not contacted by
the Ministry for Parliamentary Affairs. They were however told by Dr Sediq Mudaber, head of
the Office for Administrative Affairs, that the President was on a trip abroad, but he may
nominate his appointments in a few days. ‘We waited for another few days but when we still did
not received any response from President Karzai or the Ministry for Parliamentary Affairs, we
elected the heads of twelve commissions on 5 February.’(**)
The position of the speaker of the Senate may not hold the same strategic relevance as its
Wolesi Jirga counterpart, still it represents a prized title which the President may want to award
to a political ally – which probably explains his disappointment with its - from his point of view -
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premature and independent installation.
In the meantime there is controversy over the the opinion of the Independent Commission for
Supervision of the Implementation of the Constitution. The objection that only appointed
senators are eligible for the position of speaker was not an issue five years ago, when two
elected senators were competing with Sebghatullah Mujaddedi, the eventual winner of the first
senate speaker election. The commission’s intervention is thus seen as more politically
motivated than based on a legalistic approach.
The Takhar senator already quoted above also claimed that when some of the senators met Gul
Rahman Qazi six months ago, the head of the commission conceded that all Meshrano Jirga
members were free to run as candidates for the speaker position. ‘It is regrettable that a
commission with such authority raises [such] an irresponsible and unfounded issue’ he added.
Hafiz Abdul Qayum, a senator from Nuristan, argued that there are only three conditions to
justify another round of elections in the house: a) death of the speaker; b) deposal by decision
of the majority of senators; c) resignation. Apart from these three situations, any re-election
would be unconstitutional, he said.
It seems that the Senate has so far survived the presidential palace’s interference and
managed to elect its speaker and administrative board independently - while the President was
distracted by the outcome of the parliamentary election, the inauguration of the Wolesi Jirga and
the election of its speaker. The majority of the MJ members since then seem to have ignored
the President's wishes.(***) It will be difficult for the President to accept a Senate where his
former boss Mujadeddi - he chaired Jabha-ye Nejat, one of the major 1980s mujahedin
organisations of which Karzai was a member and also was Interim President in 1992 when
Karzai served as deupty foreign minister - is not the speaker.
The ethnic breakdown of the Meshrano Jirga, as provided by its office and the Palace, is as
follows:
Pashtun 30 (elected by provincial council) +11 (selected by president Karzai)
Tajik 16 + 6
Sadat 7 + 2
Hazara 5 + 3
Turkman 3 + 1
Uzbek 2 + 3
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Aimaq 2 + 0
Nuristani 2 + 0
Pashai 1 + 0
Hindu 0 + 1
Kuchi 0 + 2
Gujar 0 + 1
Baluch 0 + 1
Bayat (Qizilbash) 0 + 2
Mujadeddi (****) 0 + 1
(*) Altogether, there are 102 members in the upper house: 34 apponted by the President
(including, by law, 17 women, two Kochi and two disabled), 34 elected by the provincial councils
(PC), and 34 elected from among the district councils (DC). As there are currently no district
councils in Afghanistan, it has been decided that the provincial councils, temporarily, fill the DC
seats, too.
The mentioned article of the Constitution specifies the duration in office of the three categories
of senators: four years for those elected among provincial councils; three years for those
elected through district councils; five years for those appointed by the President. Further
interpretation is the commission’s authority.
(**) Below the details of the speaker, the administrative board and the 12 commissions with their
respective heads:
Speaker: Fazl-ul-Hadi Muslimyar (Nangrahar province)
First Deputy: Muhammad Azam Izedyar (Panjshir)
Second Deputy: Haji Rafiullah (Kabul)
Secretary: Abdul Wali Raji (Baghlan)
Deputy Secretary: Sayed Azizullah Ulfati (Jowzjan)
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1) International Affairs commission: Arefullah Pashtun (Khost)
2) National Economy, Finance and Budget commission: Maulawi Abdul Wahab Irfan (Takhar)
3) Legislative, Justice and Judiical Affairs commission: Maulawi Ghulam Mohluddin Monsef
(Kapisa)
4) Public Service, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs commission: Abdul Anan
Haqayun (Paktia)
5) Transport and Telecommunication Affairs commission: Eng. Ahmad Jawed Rauf (Herat)
6) Complaints commission: Dr. Zalmai Zabuli (Zabul)
7) Provincial and District Councils Affairs commission: Mukaram Khan Naseri (Laghman)
8) Border and Tribal Affairs commission: Haji Boy Murad (Jowzjan)
9) Security and Defense Affairs commission: Bibi Roh Gul Khairzad (Nimroz)
10) Women and Civic Society Affairs commission: Khair-ul-Nesa Ghami (Nimroz)
11) Religious, Cultural, Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Affairs
commission: Maulawi Mahmud Daneshjo (Balkh)
12), Martyrs and Disabled commission: Sayed Muhammad Sadad (Daikondi)
(***) No comprehensive political affiliation breakdown of the Meshrano Jirga is available, but
among the groups represented Hezb-e Islami seems to enjoy a relative majority, followed
by Jamiat-e Islami, Dawat-e Islami andHezb-e Wahdat-e Melli. According to the senators
themselves, however, the party affiliation does not have that much significance inside the MJ.
(****) The elevation of the Mujaddedi family to a seperate tribe was criticized by Hasht-e
Sobh newpaper (In: 'Meshrano Jirga, an Antiques’ Museum', 21 February 2011)
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