AFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan's constitutional assembly appeared on the verge of deadlock yesterday as scores of delegates protested for a second day against sweeping powers sought by President Hamid Karzai.
Mr Francesc Vendrell, the EU envoy for Afghanistan, said meanwhile that it was essential for the war-torn country's stability to adopt a document with broad support.
About 150 members of the 502-delegate Loya Jirga, or grand assembly, are insisting on a vote on the type of regime Afghanistan will have before debating Mr Karzai's proposed draft constitution, several of the protest leaders said.
"The jirga is heading towards deadlock," said Mr Karim Aimaq, a former mayor of Kabul, and a leader of the protesters.
"Delegates have refused to participate in group discussions on Mr Karzai's draft for a second day running." Mr Karzai has strong international backing and is widely seen as the only leader able to hold the fractious country together.
He needs only a simple majority to endorse the draft constitution intended to take Afghanistan to its first general elections next year and has vowed he will only stand in the polls if there is a strong presidential system. But the protesters say that if they refuse to enter the debate, the legitimacy of the outcome of an assembly drawn from across the country's regions and ethnic groups and supposed to foster national unity will be called into question.
They have been demanding a stronger parliament with a prime minister to dilute presidential powers. Mr Vendrell said consensus was important. "It is essential for the country's stability that the constitution should have ample support," he said.
"The constitution is not a government programme, it is a document supposed to last for a considerable amount of time, and therefore it is essential that there should be some consensus amongst the Afghans about the kind of government they want."
The protest has been launched mainly by sections of the Northern Alliance group of commanders, who helped topple the Taliban in 2001. They are led by ex-president Mr Burhanuddin Rabbani and Gen Abdul Rashid Dostum, a key ethnic Uzbek strongman.
The alliance forms the backbone of Mr Karzai's government after helping the US-led forces overthrow the Taliban in 2001, but now appears split over presidential powers.
As the confrontation heated up, foreign journalists were barred.