Jump to content

2003 loya jirga

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by UtherSRG (talk | contribs) at 20:37, 4 January 2004. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A 502-delegate loya jirga convened in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 14, 2003, to consider the proposed Afghan Constitution. Originally planned for ten days, the charter was not endorsed by the assembly until January 4, 2004. Afghanistan's last constitution was drafted for the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in November 1987.

Issues involving substantial debated included whether Dari or Pashto should be the official language, whether former king Mohammed Zahir Shah should maintain the title "father of the nation," how to address women's rights, whether Afghanistan should be a free market economy, and whether higher education should be free.

The most pressing issue, however, was the question of centralized power. Interim President Hamid Karzai supported a constitution draft outlining a strong president and stated that he would not run for the office in 2004 if the draft was not approved. Members of the the Tajik-dominated Northern Alliance accused Karzai of buying off opponents with promises of influential positions in a post-election government. On January 1, the loya jirga broke down when close to half of the assembly boycotted the first and only ballot, forcing chairman Sibghatullah Mojadedi to call for a 2-day adjourning.

The Loya jirga convened beneath a large tent on the grounds of a Soviet-built university. In the opening ceremonies of December 14, former king Mohammad Zahir Shah addressed the assembly after a dozen children in diverse ethnic outfits, waved Afghan flags, and sang songs of peace, which included verses such as "We are doves, waiting for peace, we are tired of fighting." Later that day in a second vote, Mojadedi was elected the chairman by a majority vote of 252. Hafiz Mansour had garnished only 154 votes (not a majority) in the first vote.

The voting produced outrage from many of the 114 female delegates. To appease their concerns, Mojadedi selected Safia Sediqi for the fourth deputy position, and he named two other women as deputy's assistants, but the move did not pacify the women. Also that day, claiming the support of 241 delegates, the Northern Alliance demanded that 50 delegates picked by Karzai be denied voting rights; however Mojadedi rejected the idea.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2003_loya_jirga&oldid=2085282"