In a heady day of noise, confusion, shouting,
interminable delays and poetic speeches calling for unity and peace,
Afghans yesterday enjoyed their first experience of real democracy after
23 years of war.
About 1,500 delegates revelled in a sometimes chaotic debate inside and outside the tent where the loya jirga, or tribal council, began to decide the future of their nation.
In
their speeches men and women abused almost every warlord and politician
in the country, often by name, for devastating Afghanistan. The
warlords and ministers sitting in the front rows heard them in stony
silence.
Others claimed that the
Americans and other foreigners were interfering in Afghan democracy by
forcing the former king, Zahir Shah, to turn down a formal post in the new administration.
"We
don't want the loya jirga to be a rubber stamp," said Mohammed Daud, a
Pathan delegate from Kabul. "It will be hypocritical for the West to
send soldiers to help democracy and then interfere when the democratic
process starts."
At times speakers acted like football hooligans,
at other times there was spell-binding oratory. But there always
appeared to be some order behind the chaos.
Still some delegates were furious at the lack of free votes and 60 to 70 walked out of the 1,600-member meeting.
Hamid Karzai, the US-backed leader of the interim administration and likely president, added to the confusion after the opening ceremony on Tuesday when he told some journalists that he already had the job in the bag.
"It is finished," he said. "The assembly has voted for me." A spokesman for Mr Karzai said yesterday the leader had made "a mistake".
The council failed to deal with its first main business, the election of a chairman.
The vote which had still not taken place by nightfall, is important because it could also help to decide whether Mr Karzai will have to face opponents for the role of president, to lead the country for the next two years.
The two main candidates are the acting chairman, Ismail Qasimyar, and Azizullah Wassafi, who is loyal to Zahir Shah.
If Mr Wassafi, who is also opposed to Mr Karzai, wins, it will encourage others to challenge for the presidency.
Outside the gates of the loya jirga, a jeep carrying four armed bodyguards of Wali Massoud, the brother of the assassinated Gen Ahmad Shah Massoud, was stopped by German troops of the International Security Assistance Force who forcibly disarmed them.
Gen Sayaf Khalil said the foreign troops over-reacted, pointing weapons at the bodyguards' heads. But Wali Massoud said it was a minor incident.
Col Helen Wildman, an ISAF spokesman, said at one point a man aimed his rifle at the Germans before he was disarmed.
Later, German troops accidentally fired machineguns at an Afghan television truck causing panic at a nearby hotel. No one was hurt.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Still some delegates were furious at the lack of free votes and 60 to 70 walked out of the 1,600-member meeting.
Hamid Karzai, the US-backed leader of the interim administration and likely president, added to the confusion after the opening ceremony on Tuesday when he told some journalists that he already had the job in the bag.
"It is finished," he said. "The assembly has voted for me." A spokesman for Mr Karzai said yesterday the leader had made "a mistake".
The council failed to deal with its first main business, the election of a chairman.
The vote which had still not taken place by nightfall, is important because it could also help to decide whether Mr Karzai will have to face opponents for the role of president, to lead the country for the next two years.
The two main candidates are the acting chairman, Ismail Qasimyar, and Azizullah Wassafi, who is loyal to Zahir Shah.
If Mr Wassafi, who is also opposed to Mr Karzai, wins, it will encourage others to challenge for the presidency.
Outside the gates of the loya jirga, a jeep carrying four armed bodyguards of Wali Massoud, the brother of the assassinated Gen Ahmad Shah Massoud, was stopped by German troops of the International Security Assistance Force who forcibly disarmed them.
Gen Sayaf Khalil said the foreign troops over-reacted, pointing weapons at the bodyguards' heads. But Wali Massoud said it was a minor incident.
Col Helen Wildman, an ISAF spokesman, said at one point a man aimed his rifle at the Germans before he was disarmed.
Later, German troops accidentally fired machineguns at an Afghan television truck causing panic at a nearby hotel. No one was hurt.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
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