KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is expected to present a new list of Cabinet nominees to Parliament on Saturday, an official said, replacing 17 names unexpectedly rejected by members last week in a humiliating snub.
Karzai used a presidential decree to force lawmakers to postpone their winter recess to vet a new government after they threw out over two thirds of his candidates, including several close allies and one powerful ex-guerrilla commander.
The lower house of Parliament expects the president to present his new list on Saturday, said Hasib Noori, Parliament’s head of media relations.
It will include a candidate for foreign minister, a portfolio that was not covered in the last submission of 24 prospective cabinet members, so lawmakers will have to question 18 nominees, a process that took well over a week in the last round.
“Parliament will go over their credentials and plans and then will vote,” Noori said. He did not know which names would be on the new list. A senior official on Monday said it would include some of those already rejected, but in new portfolios. Parliament’s rejection of so many candidates was a major political blow to a man who has been Afghanistan’s leader.
Only seven ministers were confirmed in their posts, almost all incumbents in key portfolios including defense, finance, interior and education, who spend a large chunk of foreign aid.
If Karzai fails to have his Cabinet approved in the next few weeks he will have to head to a London conference later this month seeking extra funds from Western donors without being able to say who will control a significant chunk.
