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The Not So Final Draft of the Afghan Constitution |
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Finally, the Afghan draft Constitution has been published for the entire nation to read, discuss and express their views on. A Constitutional Drafting Commission member is reported to have said that the Commission will entertain comments on the draft until the time that it is presented to the Constitutional Loya Jirga sometime this December. For this purpose already some 5000 copies of the draft document have been sent to Afghan provinces. The draft at its present form is the best a Commission set up by Mr. Karzai could do considering the enormous complexity of the Afghan social and political situations, as they exist today. Yet there seems to be much room for improvement. The draft has compiled the new Constitution in 12 chapters and 160 articles. It will be presented to a Loya Jirga of 500 deputies for discussion and ratification. The Commission has tried to address, in the most cautious manner, most difficult issues such as the role of religion, distribution of power, administrative divisions, human rights, official languages, minority languages, education, and Afghanistan's international standing and obligations. It has refrained, perhaps in the interest of reducing controversy, from naming a national language. It seems that it has decided definitively to distance itself from entertaining monarchical tendencies once and for all by giving the ceremonial title of the Father of the Nation to the former King for the remainder of his natural life. The division of powers of the state is carefully dealt with. A very strong president with enormous powers will lead the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. However, members of the government will be subject to parliamentary interpellation. While the concentration of power in the person of the president seems to be enormous, unconditional powers given to the parliament to summon cabinet ministers for interpellations also seem a little exaggerated. This is specially so when the requirements for running for the national assembly does not name level of literacy or educational level of the candidates. The parliament will be bicameral. It will be called the National Assembly and the two houses will be the House of the People or Wolusi Jirga and the House of Elders or Mishrano Jirga. Wolusi Jirga will have between 220 to 250 members. The president would appoint one third of the members of the Mishrano Jirga. The total number of members of the Mishrano Jirga is not mentioned. The president will make sure that at least half his appointees to the House of Elders are women. While the document is by all measures providing for a democratic system for the country, it is obvious that some degree of political interest has influenced its making. However, it has tried in a systematic way to provide for the country's unity, a strong central government and distribution of power while supporting individual liberties and freedoms and maintaining the rights of all citizens alike. One of the important aspects of this document is relegating of some degree of power to the provinces and districts. Numbers of provinces or districts have not been decided. The document establishes Provincial Councils headed by a Chairman. It is not clear whether this Chairman is to take up administrative tasks of the provincial government or serves as a head of the legislature. For example, if he is given executive powers then he is practically the governor of the province. In this case he would be wearing two hats, which is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution. If Provincial Councils are legislatures, then the document should say so and expound on their responsibilities. It should then define the executive power for the province as well. A better system of distribution of power would have been giving the provinces the right to elect their own executives and the Provincial Councils to serve as local legislative assemblies. It is now time that Afghans from all walks of life, and especially the intelligentsia anywhere, study the draft more carefully and contribute their views and ideas, according to their expertise and experiences, in a positive and constructive manner so that any shortcomings in the draft would be removed and ideas for the country's security, prosperity and development would be reflected in the articles of this national document. 11/09/03 |