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FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
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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 
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