VZCZCXRO6586
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #1350 1501032
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301032Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9144
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 0075

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