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AFGHANISTAN: Female MP Comes out Firing
By IPS/Pajhwok Afghan News
KABUL, Dec 20, 2005 (IPS) - Women's activist turned politician Malali Joya on Tuesday picked up where she left off two years ago, condemning Afghanistan's warlords, some of who now sit with her in the Parliament that convened Monday after three decades.
"I can see them sitting here in this House," said Joya, who earned an international reputation when she spoke against warlords and drug smugglers in the Loya Jirga national meeting to discuss the country's constitution in late 2003.
That speech earned Joya, 27, powerful enemies. Despite her immense popularity, which led to her victory in September's parliamentary elections from the border province of Farah, she rarely travels alone. She employs at least 12 security guards - after at least four assassination attempts - and is always seen in public wearing a burqa (the veil that covers a woman's body and face from head to toe).
On Monday she told reporters, "I see the future of this parliament as very dark because of the presence of warlords, drug lords and those whose hands are stained with the blood of the peopleąthey should be brought to justice."
Joya's accusations were echoed by a group of 20 candidates who blame their losses in the September polls on corruption and vote-rigging and who gathered as the parliament opened Monday. "The current parliamentarians are all smugglers, who made their way to parliament through using force," said failed contender Mohammad Anwar Sultani.
On Tuesday the 349 members of the two houses of parliament began the task of choosing speakers following Monday's historic session that was attended by U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, former king Mohammad Zahir Shah, 93, who was deposed in a 1973 coup, ambassadors from a number of countries and representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Late Tuesday, MPs elected former interim president and spiritual leader Sibghatullah Mujaddidi as speaker for the Meshrano Jirga (upper house) of the new Afghan parliament. Election for the speaker of the Wolesi Jirga (lower house) was postponed till Wednesday.
The challenges facing the fledgling politicians - a mix of former Jihadi leaders, dissidents from the former fundamentalist Taliban regime, regional warlords, communists and scores of women - and the entire Central Asian nation, are immense, noted MPs interviewed by Pajhwok Afghan News agency.
"First of all, parliamentarians must evolve a consensus on different problems. We have to reach a clear understanding on important questions inside the Parliament and try to set aside our differences in supreme national interests," said Younus Qanuni in response to a query about the priorities of the legislature.
Parveen Durrani, a woman lawmaker from the Kuchi tribe, also underlined the need to develop close unity among parliamentarians, who she urged to join hands for the greater glory of the country, battered by decades of war.
Employment opportunities for youths, improved security and more facilities for women are immediate priorities for Afghanistan, she added, especially because there have been no visible change in the life of the common Afghan citizen despite the billions of dollars in assistance that poured into the country over the last four years.
Pajhwok reported Dec. 6 that violent crimes against women were on the rise in the southern Helmand and northern Kapisa provinces, including several cases of women having been thrashed to death by their husbands or other male relatives.
"Violence against women and girls is pervasive," concluded an Amnesty International report in May. "Afghan women and girls live with the risk of abduction and rape by armed individuals; forced marriage, being traded for settling disputes and debts; and they face daily discrimination from all segments of society as well as by state officials."
For most Afghan women, little has changed since the fundamentalist Taliban's ouster as part of the U.S.-led 'war on terror' in 2001. Literacy rates for women are an abysmal 14 percent compared to slightly more than 50 percent among men. Female life expectancy is a mere 45 years.
Another woman MP, Fahima Ahmadzai, told Pajhwok her priorities are economic development, alleviation of poverty and better security, while former minister for the disabled and martyr affairs Siddiqa Balkhi, one of 34 people nominated by President Hamid Karzai to the Upper House, called for effective measures to address the grinding poverty afflicting Afghans.
In his maiden speech to parliament Monday, Karzai noted these challenges, vowing to continue the war on terrorism, graft, nepotism, poverty and, particularly, the drug trade. He argued that the cultivation of poppies that are used to make heroin brings Afghans a profit much smaller than the infamy it earns the country globally, and also lines the pockets of outsiders.
"We have held out a firm commitment to the international community to banish the narco-trade from Afghanistan. All of us should unite to combat the scourge in a decided fashion," stressed Karzai, clad in the traditional shalwar, kameez and a black coat.
But he also highlighted at length recent achievements of his government, which has been solidly backed by Washington since the United States attacked Afghanistan for its support to al-Qaeda following the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon..
Adoption of a constitution, formation of the Afghan National Army, last year's presidential election and the Sep.18 parliamentary polls are some of those achievements, said Karzai.
The president also appealed to the world at large to help Afghanistan alleviate burgeoning poverty by placing a greater part of reconstruction funds under direct control of his government. Currently, Kabul is empowered to spend only 22 percent of the funds, while the lion's share is spent by NGOs.
As the parliamentarians stretched their newfound political muscles, attacks around the country brought home the fragile state of the nation, particularly outside the capital Kabul.
On Tuesday four people, including three Italian peacekeepers, were wounded when an explosive-packed car rammed into their vehicle in western Herat province. Late Monday, gunmen shot dead a local judge in the Sangeen district of southern Helmand province. Police chief Abdul Rahman Sabir told Pajhwok he suspected Taliban fighters were responsible.
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