Parliament a Tool in Democratic Governance
Afghanistan’s New Parliament
Dr. G. Rauf Roashan
Abstract: The Joint Electoral Management Board announced Afghanistan’s election results. It is great news for supporters of democracy to see that Afghanistan now has a new parliament that is hoped to work better and produce effective change in the lives of the Afghans who have waited perhaps too long to see law and order rule their country’s affairs. But it is more important to see who makes the parliament and what agendas the deputies would advance upon assuming their function as parliamentarians.
The Bicameral Parliament:
Afghanistan is poised to launch one of the most important tools of democracy; Afghan parliament is about to convene soon. The parliament consists of two chambers, the Council of the People or Wolesi Jirga and the Council of Elders or the Mishrano Jirga. These have also been called the National Assembly and the Senate. The Wolesi Jirga consists of 249 representatives while the Mishrano Jirga is made up of 102 senators. Members to the Mishrano Jirga will come from two representatives from each of the 34 Provincial Councils of Afghanistan, and 34 members directly appointed by the President of Afghanistan.
While the Wolesi Jirga members as well as members of the Provincial Councils were elected by the people, the constitution of the Mishrano Jirga remains to be decided by elections that began this Saturday by the Provincial Councils to choose the two senators from each province.
Recent reports stated that the building for housing of the oncoming parliament was about 80 per cent ready for the legislative body to commence its work.
Form and Function:
It would be on the above background that the new tool for democracy will be launched and Afghanistan will truly embark on the democratic vehicle to travel on the sweet, yet arduous path towards democracy.
Although the function and the tool are intimately related, yet for the functioning of any tool, there is a great need for knowledge of the tool and its workings. To work on your computer, a tool, you need to know how to operate it. To let the legislative tool operate, you need to be aware of its nits and grits, the rules of the game and the benevolence of the intention of the operator for the good of all.
In Afghanistan, perhaps democracy comes at a time that the newly elected representatives in the most part need to learn the functioning of the parliament and get acquainted with the rules governing the operation of the parliament in such a way that bills and laws would provide for the true prosperity, peace and development of the country and satisfaction of the nation. And there is an enormous number of urgent legislation that has to be worked on. Perhaps one of the most important among these is the functioning of the Provincial Councils that according to the Constitution needs to be regulated by law. At present, no one is clear as to the terms of reference of the above councils except a vague general description that considers the councils responsible in the provincial development. Democratic process would have demanded that they be used as provincial legislative bodies much like the state legislatures in the United States. Perhaps a new law based on the Constitutional requirement would help clarify this.
How It Was?
Let us therefore have a look at how it was and how it should be to provide for the smooth functioning of this great democratic tool for the benefit of the Afghans irrespective of their geographic, linguistic, religious or ethnic affiliations.
In the past during the monarchy members to the parliament consisted mostly of the district and regional chieftains some of them hardly literate, but popular only at local level. The Mishrano Jirga however consisted of elected officials as well as the third that was chosen by the King. Most of the deputies and some of the senators spent most of their time visiting different ministry departments interfering with the routine of the executive even regarding the appointments of low level civil servants, issuance of government contracts to a variety of bidders and exerting pressure on the executive to amend or change government plans in favor of their constituencies. It was also rumored that some degree of corruption was also involved in taking up of personal cases of individuals, some even outside their constituencies. Within the parliament there was some degree of regional and linguistic polarization blinding the deputies to the true needs of the nation as a whole. The structure for the functioning of the parliament existed on paper and parliament committees were named in both houses. Government ministers and departmental heads brought their developmental and regular budgets to the committees concerned and defended them. In theory the deputies understood the process and even suggested changes and alterations. Parliamentary politics were played only by a handful of members of covert parties that received assistance from foreign sources. Inter-parliamentary conflicts based on personal and party agendas were common and personal animosities were also shown between and among deputies. Government interference as well as interference by foreign political interests played a big role in the parliamentary politics. The government was forced to be extremely tolerant even to the uneducated demands of the parliamentarians who would put the government programs in jeopardy if their wishes were not complied to.
In reality it all amounted to a ridiculous show staged to tell the people that the affairs of the government were conducted in a democratic manner. Holding the rank of departmental head in the Ministry of Public Health, I had first hand information of the day-to-day interaction with the parliament and had the experience of seeing how the process of ratification of the developmental and ordinary budget of my ministry was handled.
The Parliamentarians:
It is great news for supporters of democracy to see that Afghanistan now has a new parliament that is hoped to work better and produce effective change in the lives of the Afghans who have waited perhaps too long to see law and order rule their country’s affairs. But it is more important to see who makes the parliament and what agendas the deputies would advance upon assuming their function as parliamentarians. An even more pertinent question is whether all of the elected individuals can be called as true parliamentarians and whether they are aware of the technicalities of the workings of the parliament in a democratic society.
Financial Times quoting Nek Mohammed Kabuli, an analyst at the US-funded National Democratic Institute of Kabul as saying on November 11 that “Around 45 per cent of the parliament will be former Mujahideen, 20 per cent democrats and intellectuals and 20 per cent independents.” ‘The remaining seats would be taken by former communists and Taliban leaders,’ he said. Other reports suggest that the parliament would consist of a majority that would be supportive of Mr. Hamed Karzai the Afghan President. This is not to say that he would have no opposition in the houses as an elite opposition or strong Mujahideen groupings led by deputies such as Mr. Muhaqiq, Mr. Qanooni and Mr. Bashardost and others, who would be strongly critical of the executive’s performance, does exist in the new parliament. A number of warlords accused of war crimes have also won seats in the Wolesi Jirga. A number of former communists and three prominent former Taleban officials were also able to secure seats in the lower house. The good news is that all 68 seats reserved for women deputies have been filled at the Wolesi Jirga.
How It Should Be?
Now that the form is taking shape of the Jirgas all eyes would be focused on their function. In other words, it is not enough to have a parliament; democratic process requires that parliamentarians must be fully acquainted with the use of this important tool in the life of the nation. There is a need now for realization of the great opportunity that is accorded both to the nation and to the deputies themselves to work hand-in-hand for the reconstruction and resuscitation of the dilapidated social and economic structure of the country by avoiding past mistakes and errors in conduct of the parliament and by learning how to cooperate for the benefit of the nation in the framework of the elected legislature. It is important also to realize that in the process of alleviation of the ills of the nation and dressing of the wounds of the country inflicted on it by a long and imposed war, the executive and the legislature need to work in an atmosphere of trust, cooperation and understanding. The nation has put its trust on an elected president and an elected legislature. Both have ethical responsibility to uphold the trust in the best possible way and to serve the nation that has honored them by providing them the chance to serve the national cause.
The Great Challenge:
President Hamed Karzai will now have to face one of the greatest challenges of his tenure. In order to tame the myriad of demands on his government by the new parliament he would need all his political savvy to harness divisive trends, foreign interest and interference and check extremist tendencies within both the executive and the legislature. The task is huge and for its accomplishment, the President would need an experienced and selfless team that presently either does not exist or does not function optimally. He would soon realize that ruling the country in the absence of a parliament, difficult as it was, was much easier than to rule it with a parliament in place. Everywhere one looks there is need for legislation. For laws to be formulated and enacted and enforced the whole mechanism of governance is to be refurbished and geared for high action. Would the executive and the legislature be able to face the great challenge is to be seen in their conduct, political maturity and selfless devotion to a well deserving nation. 11/13/05
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