Karzai blames foreigners over Afghan parliament decision (Roundup)

By Subel Bhandari Jan 25, 2011, 17:36 GMT

Kabul - President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday accused foreign powers of stirring trouble in Afghanistan as he bowed to pressure from the international community and announced the opening of the new parliament.

Karzai had postponed parliament's January 23 opening date to allow a special tribunal more time to look into complaints of electoral fraud.

But he eventually agreed to preside over a new Wednesday opening after lawmakers - allegedly backed by Western powers - decided to go ahead without him.

'A number of foreign elements questioned our decision and began creating a crisis in the country by telling the winning candidates to open the national assembly without the president and told them 'we are with you',' Karzai said in a statement.

The United Nations' envoy to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, has held meetings with the winning candidates over the past three days and has called on Karzai to open the new session 'as soon as possible'. Similar demands were also made by the United States and NATO officials.

'In order to salvage Afghanistan from foreign interference, we decided to meet the winning candidates and persuaded them to accept the special court's decisions after the parliament is inaugurated,' Karzai said.

The decision was welcomed by the United Nations and the United States.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) 'commends the spirit of cooperation between the presidential office and the recently elected members of parliament,' a statement said.

'This paves the way for the parliament to convene, in the presence of the president, and resume its important functions in the democratic governance of Afghanistan.'

The US embassy in Kabul said that 'after a healthy and constructive debate between Afghan institutions, the outcome ultimately reached demonstrates respect for democratic governance and for the separation of powers set forth in the Afghan Constitution.' The September 18 parliamentary election was marred by violence and widespread allegations of fraud. Poll authorities threw out a quarter of the more than 5 million votes cast and disqualified 24 winners before announcing the final results in November.

Some politicians have dismissed the special court as 'unconstitutional' and have demanded its abolition.

Lawmakers had previously agreed that Afghan courts, rather than the special tribunal, should investigate election-related criminal cases, provided that their parliamentary immunity was respected.

The special court is currently sifting through 430 allegations of fraud. It was set up by Karzai following protests by losing candidates in Kabul and other parts of the country.

Those candidates threatened to hold new protests in the capital on Wednesday in a bid to prevent the newly-elected lawmakers from entering the lower house of the parliament.

Daud Sultanzoy, a losing candidate from the contested Ghazni province, earlier said the protesters would 'do everything in their capacity to try and block the commencement of parliament,' including the use of force.

Karzai assured them Tuesday that winning candidates would accept the rulings of the special court.

Read more about Afghanistan Elections