MPs continue protest over incomplete cabinet

KABUL): Parliamentarians on Saturday continued to observe a legislative boycott for the seventh consecutive day, protesting President Hamid Karzai’s failure to submit a list of his cabinet nominees.

Lawmakers refused to discuss any bills and passed the time by reading newspapers and chatting.

Deputy Speaker Khalid Pakhtun, who presided over the session, said that the protest would continue until the House recessed for the summer. Parliament plans to give President Karzai 15 days during the summer break to finalize his selection of cabinet ministers and heads of independent organizations, including the Supreme Court.

But a lawmaker from northern Balkh province, Ahmad Shah Ramazan, said Parliament’s current protest would have no impact on the Karzai government. He asked colleagues to take to the streets if they wanted their demands met.

“We should carry out protest demonstrations to show the government that we are also a power,” he suggested.

Haji Zahir Qadir, a legislator from eastern Nangarhar province, claimed the government wanted to give the Taliban some seats in the administration, and it was for that reason Karzai was postponing finalizing his list of nominees.

ma/kg