Afghan parliament wins kudos for blocking Karzai appointees

[laststeamtrain]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

Afghan parliament wins kudos for blocking Karzai appointees
By Roy Gutman, McClatchy Newspapers Sun Jan 3, 3:22 pm ET

KABUL, Afghanistan — Parliament's refusal to approve more than two-thirds of the proposed Afghan cabinet shows the extent to which President Hamid Karzai's recent fraud-tainted election victory had left him severely weakened, lawmakers of all political stripes said Sunday.

National assembly members said they were receiving nonstop phone calls of congratulations for their decision Saturday to reject 17 out of 24 ministers Karzai had proposed.

"I had two Afghan expatriates call and ask what could they do to strengthen the parliament," said Mirwais Yasini , the first deputy speaker, who himself had run against Karzai in August's disputed elections. "They're saying: 'Good for you.'"

Far from acknowledging he was in a political crisis, Karzai portrayed his defeat as a triumph of democracy.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100103/wl_mcclatchy/3390548

[Robb]

1. Karzai has few moves left.

Look for Karzai to demonize the West in an effort to bolster support. You heard it here first.