Deal on opening of Afghan Parliament in question

By Sardar Ahmad

Agence France Presse

KABUL: A deal between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and rebel lawmakers on opening the countrys new Parliament looked in doubt Sunday amid disagreement over a special tribunal on electoral fraud.

It had seemed that constitutional crisis in the war-torn country had been averted after lawmakers said late Saturday that Karzai, under heavy pressure from the West, had dropped a plan to delay Parliaments opening by a month.

But now lawmakers are rejecting a key condition laid down by Karzai for opening it Wednesday instead that they recognize a special tribunal on fraud in Septembers polls. Opposition to the Supreme Court tribunal stems from concerns it is unlawful and could also oust some of their number.

An official source involved in Saturdays talks, speaking anonymously, said Karzai was unlikely to open Parliament this week if the lawmakers did not vow to respect the tribunal.

The disagreement between the lawmakers and Karzai is linked to the position of the Pashtuns, Karzais traditional power base and Afghanistans biggest ethnic group, under-represented in Parliament after Septembers elections.

The polls were hit by massive fraud around a quarter of the 5 million votes cast were thrown out and 24 early winners disqualified.

The MPs said that they will accept the outcomes of the legal process that is currently under way. The president sent them to write this down, sign it and bring it back to him. So far, they have not returned, the official source told AFP

Meanwhile, lawmaker Molawi Rahman Rahmani said a fresh round of talks between Karzai and MPs was set for Monday. We are going to inaugurate the Parliament Wednesday with or without Karzai, he said, while saying he thought the president would probably be there.

Highlighting wider tensions caused by the saga, up to 150 losing candidates and supporters from the September elections held a protest in Kabul Sunday against any openi! ng of Pa rliament.