World | Afghanistan
Afghanistan turns against president
Hajji Mohammad Aman sits in the half-light of his west Kabul real estate office and makes a demand of his president.
- By Mark Sappenfield
- Published: 23:55 October 23, 2008
Kabul: Hajji Mohammad Aman sits in the half-light of his west Kabul real estate office and makes a demand of his president.
"When you decide to do something, you have to do it, even if it costs you your life," he says, firmly but without bluster.
The comment hints at why the country that once chose President Hamid Karzai to lead it into a new, democratic future is now turning against him. Both at home and abroad, Karzai is facing mounting criticism that he has lacked the courage to stop the government's descent into corruption and ineffectiveness.
Karzai's international allies are increasingly unwilling to accept inaction, and with presidential elections a year away, the man who once had an 83 per cent approval rating now finds himself politically isolated and needing to resuscitate his image.
"Things are out of his control now," says Farooq Mirranay, a member of parliament who supported Karzai in the 2004 elections and remains a part of the Karzai's legislative bloc.
As the West begins to pay more attention to the worsening state of law and order in Afghanistan, pressure on Karzai is growing. His decision on October 11 to reshuffle his cabinet has been seen as an effort to placate international allies demanding progress against corruption.
"It's taken him two years to do it," says Ahmad Rashid, author of Descent into Chaos, a book about US efforts to rebuild Afghanistan.
This month, officials in the Bush administration alleged that Karzai's brother, Ahmad Wali, is involved in the opium trade, according to the New York Times. The Karzais have denied it.
Despite this dissatisfaction with the Afghan government's lack of progress under Karzai, there is no clear replacement. A study by the Congressional Research Service recently tabbed former Interior Minister Ali Jalali and former Finance Minister Ashraf Gani as the most likely contenders for Karzai's job. Gani, who was a member of the mujahideen government that ruled during Afghanistan's disastrous civil war, has the greater name recognition. Jalali is seen by many in the international community as a competent technocrat, but he is currently living in the US and would have trouble connecting with Afghans.
Rumours also continue to circle that America's ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, who was born in Afghanistan, is considering a run. He has repeatedly denied this.
There has been no recent opinion poll to measure Karzai's approval rating. Yet interviews throughout Kabul point to a widely held perception: that Karzai has surrounded himself by thieves and drug lords. This has turned many Afghans against him.
Mirranay says he will not campaign for Karzai again.
"He never took measures against corrupt officials," he says. "The government is built on compromises and deals."
With voter registration having already begun, it is a statement that presages the tone of the coming campaign. But there is at least a kernel of truth in it, say some analysts of Afghanistan, with Karzai governing almost as a tribal leader, seeing every situation as an opportunity for negotiation.
"He was always faced with the problem of indecisiveness," says Rashid, citing the delayed cabinet shuffle as a typical example of how Karzai has often attempted to skirt difficult choices.
"Karzai cannot govern without security, and security is not in his hands," says Rashid.
"When President Karzai first came people had hopes," says Iqbal Ali Sharwand, a political science student in Kabul. "But after the elections people's hopes were dashed because he is only working to keep his power rather than thinking of the people's interests."
- Christian Science Monitor
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