Source: BBC

Friday, 25 January, 2002, 16:58 GMT
Q&A: What is a loya jirga?

A 21-member commission has been established in Afghanistan to organise a council of tribal leaders - loya jirga - which will in turn appoint a transitional government. BBC News Online looks at the background and significance of this time-honoured institution.
What is a loya jirga?

It is a forum unique to Afghanistan in which tribal elders - Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks, Sunnis and Shiites - can come together and settle affairs of the nation or rally behind a cause.

The phrase loya jirga is Pashto and means grand council. The institution, which is centuries old, is a similar idea to the Islamic "shura" or consultative assembly.

It has been used to settle inter-tribal disputes, discuss social reforms and approve a new constitution.

Although some political groups do not agree with the process - viewing it as a rather rough and ready form of democracy - it is accepted as the closest attempt at getting popular representation in what happens in the country.

Why is it significant?

Delegates at the next loya jirga will choose a new interim government, which will rule for 18 months when the term of Hamid Karzai's six-month administration expires. They will also write a new constitution.

A loya jirga is seen as an essential process - one that is wholly Afghan. It is hoped that it will comprise a broad base of regional, tribal and ethnic leaders who will work together to prevent Afghanistan descending into the warlord battles of the early 1990s.

It is also seen as an inclusive institution, and there are plans to include women for the first time.

While the Taleban will not be represented, people who share their political, social and cultural views will send representatives.

The loya jirga is an institution favoured by the Pashtos in the tribal south, who believe they lost out during the Bonn political talks at the end of last year.

The tribal gathering is seen as a symbol harking back to a more harmonious notion of Afghan identity.

A full loya jirga has not been called since the ex-king Mohammed Zahir Shah was deposed in 1973, and many Afghans fondly remember Zahir Shah's rule as the last time the country knew peace.

It will be opened by the ex-king, possibly in June.

What goes on?

Historically, hundreds of men wearing turbans, Persian lamb hats or embroidered quilt coats would pack into a vast hall. The debates would take place in Pashto and Dari, with the inclusion of the occasional Koranic quote in Arabic.

It would be a long process, lasting days if not weeks. After a consensus was reached, the delegates would head off to watch a round of the national game of buzkashi.

The earliest forums, in the 1700s, would only have hosted some 30 delegates. But, when the idea of convening a loya jirga was floated at the end of September, the now interim leader Hamid Karzai said that some 700 to 1,000 delegates would have to attend to make it truly representative.

What about previous loya jirgas?

Perhaps the most famous loya jirga took place in 1747, when Pashtun tribal chiefs met in the southern city of Kandahar to elect a king. Deadlocked by nine days of debate, the loya jirga chose the king as the only man who had not spoken a word the whole time.

That was Ahmad Shah Durrani, the man who founded the state of Afghanistan.

In 1928, King Amanullah asked Queen Soraya to remove her veil at the loya jirga to win support for modernising reforms. However, this proved too much for the delegates, who fomented an uprising instead.

One ruler even had the delegates at a secret loya jirga murdered because they wanted him replaced.