Failure of Karzai cabinet no coincidence

Only a few weeks before the Afghanistan conference in London the country is without a cabinet after the parliament rejected two-thirds of the candidates proposed by President Hamid Karsai. It is no coincidence that two weeks before he is to be tested by the international community Karsai has fallen victim to the revenge of the members of parliament, the left-liberal daily Frankfurter Rundschau believes: "Every second candidate on the cabinet list did credit to himself in Karzai's election campaign. Like the secret ruler of Herat, Ismail Khan, who was to be rewarded by retaining his post as minister of energy, but failed together with 16 other candidates. ... On 5 January the parliament will adjourn for a 45-day winter recess. Even while the members of parliament were putting Karzai in his place, they were continuing to adhere to Afghanistan's election timetable. On 22 May parliamentary elections are to be held, despite all the misgivings of the Nato states. It is estimated that holding the elections will cost more than 30 million euros and it is currently unclear who will finance this sum."

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