MPS ASK, "WHEN IS OUR ELECTION?"

UNCLAS KABUL 001350 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL AF SUBJECT: MPS ASK, "WHEN IS OUR ELECTION?" ¶1. (SBU) In an interesting conversation with PolOff this week, five Lower House MPs disagreed with each other over when their legislative terms expire next year and when the 2010 parliamentary election should occur. MPs Fawzia Koofi (Badakhshan, Tajik),Sultan Mohammed Awrang (Badakhshan, Tajik),Haji Aziz Ahmad Nadim (Herat, Pashtun),Haji Najeebullah Kabuli (Kabul, Tajik),and Rahman Oghly (Faryab, Uzbek) each expressed distinct opinions on when Parliament's term ended. The conversation foreshadows a tough debate ahead on next year's parliamentary election similar to this year's exhaustive debate over the date of the 2009 presidential election. ¶2. (SBU) Oghly believed MPs needed to follow the Constitution's mandate that elections occur "30-60 days before the 1st of Saratan (June 21)," placing the election some time between mid-April and mid-May, 2010. Nadim pointed out that sticking to that date would put elections in the middle of Parliament's January-June legislative session. He argued for an election to occur between the June 5-July 20 recess. Awrang felt that any election in the spring or summer would cut short Parliament's five-year term, and that an election would need to be held in late 2010 or early 2011 in order to give MPs their full terms. Koofi believed MPs should stick to an April 2008 political agreement that proposed pushing back the presidential and parliamentary elections until late summer 2009 and 2010, respectively. Kabuli said MPs will never reach a consensus among themselves on the date, and will have to reach a new political agreement with the government and international community after this year's elections. EIKENBERRY