VZCZCXRO2839
OO RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHPW RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #1712/01 1421316
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221316Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8241
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 4092

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 001712 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN 
OSD FOR SHIVERS 
CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICCENT 
RELEASABLE TO NATO/ISAF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID KDEM PGOV AF
SUBJECT: SUB-NATIONAL GOVERNANCE: AMENDED PROVINCIAL 
COUNCIL LAW INTRODUCES DEMOCRATIC REFORMS 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) President Karzai signed an amended Provincial 
Council (PC) law in late March.  The law,s key elements 
give parliament and the president shared authority over PCs 
and give PCs a significantly expanded role overseeing 
appointed elements of the provincial governments, including 
the Provincial Development Committees (PDCs).  The plan puts 
Provincial Councils at the center of the provincial 
development planning process and elevates their authority 
relative to the appointed Provincial Governors and Ministry 
Directors.  The amended law is the most significant 
democratic reform of sub-national governance since the 
adoption of the post-Taliban Constitution.  It represents an 
important first step in clarifying and empowering a key 
element in Afghanistan,s emerging system of sub-national 
governance.  END SUMMARY. 
 
PROVINCIAL COUNCILS, OLD AND NEW 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Provincial Councils (PCs) are currently the only 
elected institutions at the sub-national level.  District, 
Village, and Municipal Councils are called for in the 
Constitution, but elections have not yet been held.  PCs play 
a key constitutional role in selecting from among their ranks 
two-thirds of the members of the upper house of parliament, 
the Meshrano Jirga.  They were previously governed by the 
November 2005 Law on Provincial Councils, a Presidential 
decree which had the force of law until Parliament passed the 
new, amended version.  Under the old decree, PCs played a 
weak advisory role in the provincial administration.  They 
reported annually to the Ministry of Interior (MOI), which 
provided an administrative budget only sufficient to pay 
salaries.  PCs also faced several problems in fulfilling even 
a minimal representational role, including an unclear 
division of responsibilities with other sub-national units, 
limited understanding of how to represent constituent 
interests, lack of budgetary authority, and competition with 
informal local power structures. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In November 2006, Parliament offered amendments to 
the November 2005 Law.  Five months later President Karzai 
signed a compromise version which clarifies the relationship 
between PCs and the central government, and gives them a more 
explicit role in provincial oversight.  The amended law has 
yet to be published in the official gazette, and there is as 
yet no official English translation. 
 
REPORTING TO PARLIAMENT AND PRESIDENT 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The amended law clarifies the relationship between 
PCs and the Central Government by requiring that PCs submit 
quarterly reports to both the President and Parliament in 
place of annual reports to the Ministry of Interior.  The 
MOI's anemic Administration Division thus loses authority 
over elected sub-national structures (i.e. PCs, and 
ultimately District, Village, and Municipal Councils), but 
retains responsibility for the executive branch's appointed 
sub-national officials (i.e. Provincial Governors, Deputy 
Governors, District Governors, Mayors and other Municipal 
Officials).  Administrative responsibility for PCs -- and 
ultimately for all elected sub-national bodies -- passes from 
the MOI to Farook Wardak's Office of Administrative Affairs 
(OAA) in the Office of the President, and to its new 
Provincial Council Directorate head Karim Baz. 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to Baz, the amended PC law represents a 
compromise between the President and Parliament by 
preserving the government's role in setting sub-national 
policies while formalizing existing linkages between 
elected bodies at the central and sub-national levels.  PCs 
 
KABUL 00001712  002 OF 003 
 
 
have ties to both houses of Parliament because they have 
common constituents.  Wolesi Jirga members are currently 
elected on a provincial basis, and two-thirds of Meshrano 
Jirga members are selected by PCs from among their ranks. 
The compromise in the amended law acknowledges these ties 
while insulating PCs from dependency upon the parliament for 
salaries and administrative needs, particularly the Meshrano 
Jirga, whose members are selected by PCs.  Baz told Poloff on 
May 8 that both President Karzai and the parliament want to 
develop closer relationships with the PCs, and that "the 
President plans to meet with the heads of PCs every two 
months." 
 
FROM AN ADVISORY TO A SUPERVISORY ROLE 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The amended law also substantially increases PC 
authority over other sub-national officials by substituting a 
more robust and explicit "oversight" role over the Provincial 
Administration in place of the previously vague "advisory" 
role.  According to Baz, the amended law requires formal PC 
approval of Provincial Development Plans (PDPs), which feed 
development priorities into the Afghanistan National 
Development Strategy (ANDS) framework.  Under the old law, 
PCs only provided input into PDPs through two or three 
members who, together with Provincial Governors and 
Ministerial Directors, sat on the Provincial Development 
Committees (PDCs) responsible for developing the PDPs.  Under 
the amended law, PDPs require the approval of the full PC, 
which will significantly increase their role in the 
development planning process and their accountability to 
their electorate for the projects that are ultimately 
implemented. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The amended law also adds "oversight" to PC's role 
in advising on the "effective use of financial resources to 
the province."  Baz told Poloff on May 8 that the extent of 
PC financial oversight over budget and spending decision by 
Line Ministry Provincial Directors is yet to be defined.  How 
this role is interpreted could have considerable implications 
for PC authority and accountability, both at the sub-national 
level and vis-a-vis the central government. 
 
OTHER AMENDMENTS 
---------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The amended law makes several additional changes. 
The most significant eliminates a moral hazard faced by 
current PC members by stipulating that the seat of a PC 
member murdered while in office will remain vacant until the 
term in office expires, rather than be filled by the 
runner-up in the previous election.  Vacancies resulting from 
natural death, illness, resignation, or dismissal will 
continue to be filled by the runner-up.  Other amendments 
include requiring annual elections for PC leadership (Chair, 
Deputy Chair, and Secretary), requiring PCs to meet once 
every 15 days, and giving PCs additional responsibilities 
pertaining to environmental protection and property rights. 
 
IMPLEMENTING THE NEW LAW; PC LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Karim Baz told Poloff on May 8 that over the next 
two months his office would be implementing the amended law 
by: (1) completing translation and publication, (2) holding 
annual elections for new PC leadership, (3) developing rules 
and regulations interpreting the new law, including the new 
oversight provision, and (4) training PC members and 
informing other sub-national officials on the changes in the 
law. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Provincial Councils in each of Afghanistan's 34 
provinces are in the process of holding annual leadership 
elections from among current members for new Chairs, Deputy 
 
KABUL 00001712  003 OF 003 
 
 
Chairs, and Secretaries.  Results so far from 24 PCs indicate 
that less than 45 percent of the previous 
officials have been re-elected.  Women have been elected to 
15 positions (out of 72 so far), including one Chairperson in 
Bamiyan who was re-elected.  With ten PCs remaining, 
elections have so far proceeded without incident.  (NOTE: 
After a delay of several days, Energy Minister Ishmail Khan's 
son, a PC member who lost his seat after spending a year 
abroad, ultimately decided to withdraw his candidacy for a 
leadership position in Herat before the Supreme Court issued 
a decision on his eligibility.  END NOTE.) 
 
TRAINING AND RESOURCES NEEDED 
----------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Baz will distribute to the new PC leadership a 
draft of proposed rules and regulations for discussion, 
which will crucially determine the extent of the new 
oversight role.  Once input is compiled and the rules 
approved by the Cabinet, Baz will convene a workshop later 
this summer to train PC members on their new roles and 
responsibilities, and several regional conferences with other 
sub-national officials to inform them of the 
implications of the amended law. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Baz said the PCs lack secure transportation and 
facilities to fulfill their expanded role.  He expressed 
appreciation for USG capacity building support, but lamented 
a lack of adequate facilities.  While Provincial Governors 
have government-provided compounds, PCs lack 
dedicated, permanent facilities and often meet in rented 
houses.  Baz asked for funds to provide secure transportation 
to help PC members reach out to the district and village 
levels, particularly women in the southern provinces.  (NOTE: 
Opinions vary about whether PCs in fact lack adequate 
facilities, but Post will explore this question.  Secure 
transportation assistance is already included in the expanded 
USAID LGCD Program to be implemented in the South and East 
Regions by DAI, which has yet to be made public.  END NOTE) 
 
POSITIVE REVIEWS 
---------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) International observers agree that the amended PC 
law is a positive development.  Shahmahmood Miakhel, an UNMIK 
Governance Officer and former Afghan Deputy Minister of 
Interior for Administration from 2003-5, sees the amended law 
an important step in elaborating the vague constitutional 
provisions for sub-national governance and increasing PC 
authority and accountability.  NDI Afghanistan Director Allan 
Freedman told Poloff that the amended law made great strides 
toward expanding the role of the democratically-elected PCs 
relative to appointed provincial officials.  According to 
Freedman, the amended PC law walks a delicate political line 
by increasing PC authority and accountability without 
undermining the central government. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) The amended PC law is the most significant 
democratic reform at the sub-national level since the 
adoption of the post-Taliban Constitution.  It reflects a 
heightened appreciation of the value of extending central 
government authority through formal, accountable sub-national 
structures, and an increased willingness to give authority to 
independently elected democratic bodies.  PCs and their 
newly-elected leadership could increasingly become key 
partners for PRTs, a role 
previously dominated by appointed provincial governors. 
Capacity building assistance will play an important role 
in helping PCs assume their expanded role.  END COMMENT. 
WOOD