THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT, 5/9-5/15: MPS DEMAND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001230 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL AF SUBJECT: THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT, 5/9-5/15: MPS DEMAND "LEGALIZATION" OF FOREIGN FORCES REF: A. KABUL 1181 ¶B. KABUL 1042 ¶C. KABUL 1043 ¶1. (SBU) Lower House MPs continue to push for the "legalization" of foreign forces, following intense debate over an incident involving civilian casualties in Farah Province last week (ref A). During May 13 testimony to the Lower House, Justice Minister Sarwar Danesh told MPs President Karzai tasked the Cabinet last week with drafting an agreement that would set limits on ISAF operations in Afghanistan. MoJ has asked for more time than the one-week deadline called for in parliamentary debate to finish its draft. We will meet with Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials and others involved in the Cabinet's deliberations to encourage a slow, cautious approach on this effort. ¶2. (SBU) Lower House Speaker Qanooni held off threats by many Pashtun MPs to close down Parliament over the government's failure to strike such an agreement with Coalition forces. Backed by a handful of northern MPs and moderates, Qanooni has urged patience and told MPs he doubted closing down Parliament would advance their cause. MP Fawzia Koofi (Badakhshan, Tajik) told PolOff that Qanooni has privately told her he worries that many MPs are playing into the hands of Taliban propaganda efforts or promoting their own anti-Western agendas with calls for a legal agreement. Qanooni successfully distracted the Lower House from similar calls for the "legalization" of foreign forces following last fall's civilian casualties incident in Herat, and placated many MPs with an April meeting at the Palace with then-Charge Ricciardone and ISAF officials, following a civilian casualties incident in Khost (ref B). ¶3. (SBU) However, Qanooni has told allies he now feels he must introduce some kind of legislation that addresses calls to "legalize" ISAF's mission, though he prefers the executive branch take the lead. Without addressing in some way the civilian casualties issue, Qanooni does not believe MPs will allow other important legislation to move forward. Koofi said most MPs will settle for a less-official agreement that publicly outlines measures for increased cooperation between ISAF and Afghan security forces. Despite the emotional rhetoric that follows reports of civilian casualties, Koofi thinks MPs are too divided to support a resolution that explicitly calls for a withdrawal timeline or severely limits �A;Coalition movements. MP Rahman Oghly (Faryab, Uzbek) agreed, saying northern MPs would view such measures as a back-door effort by southern Pashtun MPs to embolden insurgent leaders with whom they sympathize. ¶4. (SBU) In other Parliament business this week: - Qanooni announced the Lower House had failed to reach a compromise on the Electoral Law. The Lower House will refer the issue of house seats reserved for Kuchi nomads to a non-existent Commission on the Implementation and Oversight of the Constitution. The Constitution calls for the establishment of such a commission, but Karzai and Parliament disagree on its roles and responsibilities. As a result, Karzai has refused to appoint members of the commission. Confusingly, Qanooni also referred Parliament's draft law establishing this commission to the commission. The Electoral Law's referral to a non-existent commission effectively kills its chances for passage this session. - The status of the Media Law remains unclear (ref C). An aide to Qanooni told PolOff he advised the speaker that Parliament had lost its dispute with the Supreme Court over a provision requiring Lower House confirmation of the president's nominee to head Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA). The aide now believes MoJ will publish the law, minus the RTA provision, in the government's legal gazette, though other MPs believe Parliament must vote to pass the law again. MP Mir Ahmed Joyenda (Kabul, Hazara) disagreed with the court's ruling, but recognized Parliament had lost this round. Joyenda intends to re-introduce the RTA provision as separate legislation later this year (though we expect the Supreme Court would also rule that unconstitutional) and supports the MoJ's plan to publish the rest of the law in the near future. - Lower House MPs debated a law regulating the Independent Directorate of Local Government (IDLG),failing to reach a consensus on whether the law should call for the popular election of governors or continue the current system of presidential appointments. Some MPs, apparently a minority, repeated calls to fold IDLG under the Ministry of Interior to combat what they see as efforts by Karzai to exploit sub-national governance officials and resources to benefit his re-election campaign. KABUL 00001230 002 OF 002 - The Lower House passed the Telecommunications Law and continued its ratifications of international agreements signed by the government over the past seven years. The Upper House finished work on the Mortgage Law and Movable Property Law, key economic laws passed earlier by the Lower House, and transmitted them to the Palace for Karzai's signature. EIKENBERRY