Islamists, mujahideen secure victory in vote for Afghanistan’s lower house

Over a month after the elections, nearly all provisional results have finally been released for Afghanistan’s Parliament and provincial...

Over a month after the elections, nearly all provisional results have finally been released for Afghanistan’s Parliament and provincial assemblies, cementing a victory for Islamic conservatives and the jihad fighters involved in the wars of the past two decades.

At least half of the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of Parliament, will be made up of religious figures or former fighters, including four former Taliban commanders. About 50 of the men elected fall into a broad category of independents, or educated professionals, and 11 are former Communists. Women have taken 68 seats—slightly more than the 25 per cent representation guaranteed under the new electoral system.

It is far from clear how voting blocs will form, because the election system sidelined political parties, and most candidates ran as independents. But analysts predict a deeply divided and confrontational body. Women may have a moderating influence but are also likely to be divided by region and ethnicity, analysts say.

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The big cities, specially Kabul and Herat, have more educated professionals winning seats, but even in Kabul half its 33 seats have been won by jihadi figures.

With such a Parliament, President Hamid Karzai will have to work with political figures that include some of the most prominent men of the past two decades of war and turbulent politics. Leaders of two mujahideen parties that fought the Soviet occupation—former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, head of the Jamiat-i-Islami, and Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf, leader of Ittehad-e-Islami—won seats, as did a number of their supporters. The two have backed Karzai recently, but their loyalty is not assured because they have much in common with the opposition: support for the mujahedeen who fought the jihad, conservative values and a demand for the northern ethnic groups to receive a fair share of power.

In opposition are two of the most prominent figures in Kabul: the Shiite Hazara leader Muhammad Mohaqeq and the Tajik politician Yunus Qanooni. Both are former ministers who left Karzai’s cabinet to run against him for president last year. Between them, and with the supporters of the Uzbek leader Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, they may form a majority that could block the approval of ministers and important bills. —NYT