MP'S BELIEVE CABINET LIST MAY BE DELAYED, SOME

C O N F I D E N T I A L KABUL 000067 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL AF SUBJECT: MP'S BELIEVE CABINET LIST MAY BE DELAYED, SOME NAMES RECYCLED REF: KABUL 47 Classified By: PolCouns Annie Pforzheimer reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) As of January 8 MPs considered it an open question as to whether Karzai will present a complete list of cabinet choices to the National Assembly (NA) on the agreed-upon January 9 date, despite Karzai's call for an extraordinary NA session (reftel). Pro-Karzai MP Khalid Pashtun (Pashtun, Kandahar),who has been present at Karzai's frequent meetings with MPs in the last week, told us January 7 that despite Karzai's ongoing assurances that the new list will be sent on January 9, due to ongoing disagreement on candidates it is doubtful a list will be ready in time. Pashtun claimed Ismail Khan refused to be reappointed to another ministry, probably out of concern that he would be rejected again. MP Sayed Ishaq Gailani (Pashtun, Paktika) told us January 8 that there was "little chance" the government would send the list by Saturday because Karzai had not yet resolved where to recycle Khan and Anwaruhaq Ahadi. Salahuddin Rabbani, the son of influential MP Professor Rabbani (Tajik, Badakhshan) said the list might be a day or two late, or will not be complete by Saturday. ¶2. (C) Meanwhile, most MPs have left town; as a sampling only five of twelve MPs we reached out to January 7 could be contacted by cell phone and only one of those five was in Kabul. Most MPs were anxious to visit their families, many of whom either live out of the country or (in limited numbers) in their home provinces. The NA's 45-day recess was scheduled to have started on December 6. Many MPs resisted Karzai's call for an extraordinary session and may refuse to return immediately after a list is presented, in protest. A quorum is not necessary to begin confirmation hearings. MPs reportedly are obtaining most of their campaign financing during the confirmation vote process, however, and therefore probably will come back and reach a quorum for the voting itself -- which would start a week to ten days after the list is presented. ¶3. (C) Many MPs say that any candidate who had received over 80 votes may be reintroduced. These include: Ismail Khan, Ghazanfar, Sarwar Danish, Sangin, Ahadi, Fatimie, Obaid, Balegh, Batash, Pashtun and Wais Barmak. Eqbal Safi (Safat, Kapisa) predicted that Ismail Khan, Enayatullah Balegh, and female candidate Ghazanfar will be reintroduced. MP Parveen Durrani (Durrani, Kuchi) said Ismail Khan, Amirzai Sangin and Sayed Amin Fatimie would be reintroduced. MP Abdul Khaliq Hussaini (Pashtun, Laghman) claimed Ismail Khan would be re-introduced as a candidate for Public Works, and Ghazanfar for Higher Education. The three names most frequently posited for Foreign Minister are current Afghan Ambassador to the U.S. Jawad; current National Security Advisor Rassoul; and defeated Economy Minister candidate Ahadi. EIKENBERRY