Afghans Agree to New Charter

After three weeks of frequently contentious debate between rival Afghan factions, delegates to a historic national convention agreed Sunday on a constitution that is a key step toward Afghanistan’s first democratic elections.

The loya jirga, an assembly made up of 500 delegates from across the war-ravaged country, approved a presidency with executive powers, two vice presidents and two legislative bodies with considerable authority.

“We have proven that through 30 years of war we still have a culture and we are still civilized,” President Hamid Karzai said at the closing ceremony. “It is a success for all of us.”

The agreement was hailed by President Bush, who said in a prepared statement that it “lays the foundation for democratic institutions and provides a framework for national elections in 2004.”

Karzai emerged as one of the winners of the constitutional debate because he had pushed hard for a strong executive system. But he was forced to make concessions for the sake of national unity, most importantly agreeing to the recognition of minority language rights that had been strongly opposed by his Pushtun supporters.

The document could also lead to further disputes, since, for example, it includes equal rights for women yet leaves the door open for adherence to strict interpretations of Islamic law.

The loya jirga, which ran two weeks longer than anticipated, was nearly declared a failure by the chairman Saturday because delegates had so much trouble reaching agreement on the language rights issue. Last-minute intervention by the United Nations and the United States helped save the day.

The Uzbeks, a minority group in the north led by the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, demanded recognition of the Uzbek language, to the anger of the Pushtun delegates who said it would turn the country into a weak, federalist state.

In the end, it was agreed that Pashto and Dari would be the official languages of Afghanistan, but that minority ones including Uzbek, Turkmen and Nuristani would be considered official in the areas where they are spoken by the majority of the population.

The loya jirga, or grand assembly, met more than two years after U.S.-led forces overthrew Afghanistan’s Taliban government, which had sheltered Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terrorist network. In mid-2002, Karzai was installed as the transitional president of a country that had been in a near-constant state of war for a quarter-century.

The central government is still seen as having limited control of regions outside Kabul that are dominated by warlords and teeming with Taliban insurgents. Instability has been spreading, particularly in the east and south where U.S. troops have battled Taliban holdouts and their Al Qaeda allies.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.’s special envoy to Afghanistan, said Sunday that implementing the constitution would be a challenge because of a dearth of institutions like a police force, judiciary and army.

“The hard work is ahead, not behind,” Brahimi said. “At the end of the day, all this has to be transferred from paper to acts and implementations.”

Karzai had said he would not run for president in elections scheduled for June unless the loya jirga voted for a presidential-style government to reconcile the country after decades of civil war. He was opposed by the northern factions and warlords who wanted a parliamentary democracy that would provide them more power.

While adhering to many of Karzai’s requests, the constitution was amended to create a second vice president, a move that could dilute the president’s power. The president will also have to seek approval of the national assembly in a number of areas, including foreign policy.

The loya jirga shifted the balance of power among the ethnic groups. The strength of ethnic Tajiks, who are strongly anti-Taliban and control the powerful defense ministry, may have diminished because of their resistance to the presidency. Yet for probably the first time in modern Afghan history, such traditionally oppressed minorities as the Uzbeks, Hazaras and Turkmens found that their grievances were heard.

There were also concessions to women, who have been severely disenfranchised, politically and socially. Men and women were declared equal, a key demand by human rights campaigners. Also, a percentage of seats in the lower house have been reserved for women. But female delegates to the convention complained that the constitution did not go far enough because it did not include a right for girls not to be forced into marriage.

In his statement, Bush said, “This new constitution marks a historic step forward, and we will continue to assist the Afghan people as they build a free and prosperous future.”

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the constitution provides a framework for an enlightened society. “Men and women are equal. People can practice their religious rights. The recognition of languages in the areas they are spoken is revolutionary in this region. No one else has it,” he said.

But such provisions as women’s rights could also lead to further rancor because they clash with other parts of the constitution.

Sharia, the strict interpretation of Islamic law, appears to have been introduced by the back door. The constitution was amended to say that “no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam.”

Human rights campaigners said the wording leaves all laws subject to interpretation by the nation’s supreme court, traditionally controlled by strict Islamists.

“I am not really satisfied because of the contradictions,” said Ahmad Nadery, commissioner of Afghanistan’s independent human rights commission. “If a conflict arises between an international declaration and the country’s law, it doesn’t say which has precedence. If we have a conservative judicial system -- which we do -- they will interpret the laws in a conservative way.”

Fundamentalists, who had boycotted the voting of amendments last week, expressed their approval of the clause.

“In my mind the constitution uses Sharia law,” said Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, the deputy to the fundamentalist warlord Ustad Abdul Rasul Sayyaf. “It doesn’t say the word ‘Sharia,’ but it means the same thing. The demands of Islam are fulfilled.”

Approval of the constitution Sunday came without any kind of balloting. Instead, delegates were asked to stand if they supported the document. The entire assembly rose in silence for several seconds.

U.N. envoy Brahimi and a number of Afghans have pushed for the delay of the parliamentary elections because of a lack of security, especially in the south. But the question of timing was neatly sidestepped.

The constitution said “every effort” should be made to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections at the same time. However, it is likely that they will be delayed until fall.

Some southern delegates expressed fear of returning home because the region is replete with Taliban insurgents who warned the representatives not to cooperate with the central government.

Pacha Khan, a delegate from the province of Zabol, said he was worried about his family’s safety.

“The Taliban have warned me,” Khan said. “They put a letter on my door saying I shouldn’t participate in the loya jirga.

“I’ll have to wait until the security is better. Until then, I’ll probably stay in Kandahar [province],” he said. “But we want to build this country. We are ready to donate our lives to bring security.”