Editorial: Intelligentsia backs new foreign minister

Some leading Afghan parliamentarians have complained repeatedly that President Hamed Karzai failed to submit his proposed cabinet list to the legislature on time. They openly suggested that the president was having problems with putting his cabinet together, or alternatively that he was intentionally delaying the process. Many believed that the president deliberately procrastinated on the new government. But after the list was submitted, those who had earlier suggested that the president was incapable of embarking on new policies began instead to accuse the cabinet nominees of incompetence. Yet the design of the new cabinet is a success, the logical outcome of changes that have happened. It appears that a number of Panjshiris have launched hostile propaganda [against new foreign minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta] in favour of Dr Abdullah Abdullah [outgoing minister, from Panjshir]. The people of Panjshir should show forbearance and think about a brighter future for the country. They should realise that the foreign ministry belongs to all the people of Afghanistan, not to one specific ethnic group. Replacing a minister with a more competent successor counts as a religious, national and moral duty. Dr Spanta has proved his talents in Europe as a politician, analyst and scientist, and he will definitely attract the international community’s attention more effectively than any other official.