NYT: Islamists and Mujahedeen Secure Victory in Afghan Vote

[DeepModem Mom]

Islamists and Mujahedeen Secure Victory in Afghan Vote
By CARLOTTA GALL
Published: October 23, 2005


KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 21 - More than a month after the elections, nearly all provisional results have finally been released for Afghanistan's Parliament and provincial assemblies, cementing a victory for Islamic conservatives and the jihad fighters involved in the wars of the past two decades.

At least half of the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of Parliament, will be made up of religious figures or former fighters, including four former Taliban commanders. About 50 of the men elected fall into a broad category of independents, or educated professionals, and 11 are former Communists. Women have taken 68 seats - slightly more than the 25 percent representation guaranteed under the new electoral system.

It is far from clear how voting blocs will form, because the election system sidelined political parties, and most candidates ran as independents. But political analysts predict a deeply divided and confrontational body. Women may have a moderating influence but are also likely to be divided by region and ethnicity, the analysts said.

Even with such a Parliament, President Hamid Karzai is likely to be able to push through most bills and appointments. He can rely to some degree on support from his fellow Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group in the country, who will control more than 100 seats. With backing from educated professionals and some other independents, that may prove to be enough support for all but the most controversial issues.
Yet he will have to work with powerful political figures. Among the winners are some of the prominent men of the past two decades of war and turbulent politics. Leaders of two mujahedeen, or jihadi, parties that fought the Soviet occupation - former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, head of Jamiat-i-Islami, and Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf, leader of Ittehad-e-Islami - won seats, as did a number of their supporters. The two have backed Mr. Karzai recently, but their loyalty is not assured because they have much in common with the opposition: support for the mujahedeen who fought the jihad, conservative values and a demand for the northern ethnic groups to receive a fair share of power....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/international/asia/23afghan.html?oref=login

[High Plains]

1. Ain't democracy grand...

Fundamentalist, and mujahideen, and Taliban, oh my!

[enigma000]

2. oh well

That's democracy. At least they are not fighting each other.

And hey, 1/4 of the representatives are women - that's something.

[hiabrill]

3. Good for them

It is there country after all....


It's called democracy........... As much as I don't like the Fundies in the States, I have no choice but to live with them....


I'm starting to believe that if we were to allow all Muslim countries to become more Islamic, it wouldn't harms us at all... Currently most Muslim Countries suppress their people, with nearly all without elected Governments..... It is those suppressed people that are becoming terrorist and turning against us.......

Support for Saudi and all other dictators should stop.....

[enigma000]

6. That's a good point

The Western world fears islamic political parties gaining power through the ballot box. In response, they support Baathist dictatorships, corrupt monarchies, etc. Yet, as we have seen, this has not stopped terrorism.

[Charles19]

8. Egypt torturing and killing political individuals

is what kicked off this whole thing, starting with Zawahiri. If they aren't allowed to have any influence in gov't they will act out in other ways.

Another example is Turkey. They went secular to the extreme for a number of reasons and the reform this led to ended up working out pretty well. However they have tended back towards a more conservative gov't which represents the people there better. This has been better for their country and better with their relationships with other countries in the region.

So yes, I agree with you. The United States needs to stop giving the green light to the tryanical, opressive dictators of the Middle East to do whatever they want to maintain the status quo. Give peole there more representation and involvement in their govt's, like all people on Earth should have the freedom to do, and 90% of the problems there will go away.

[Orrin_73]

9. The presenty ruling Ak party in Turkey

is not fundie at all. Why it works in Turkey is that the AK party is not corrupt as his predecors. The RW media branded Ak party as fundie and that was copied all over the world. Most members of the Ak party have their background in the welfare party and the nationalst movement party but that still not makes them fundie.

[IndianaGreen]

4. Women are no better off today in Afghanistan than they were before the US

invasion. Most of our white male hetero colleagues don't care about these things because they are neither "women or queer"!

[hiabrill]

7. It was naive to think we could change....

....the way women are treated in Afghanistan.

It's like going to Mormons and telling them to change their ways.

Do we have the right to do that? It's best to first understand them and then persuade them to change. If they don't, live and let live. The world is big enough for all of us.

[A-Possum]

5. "Conservative values"

bleh