Loya Jirga Remains Deadlocked

Negotiations among Loya Jirga delegates and United States and United Nations diplomats on Saturday failed to break a stalemate over the controversial issues of language and dual citizenship that threatened to lead to the collapse of the entire constitutional convention.

Sibghatullah Mujaddidi, the chairman of the assembly, warned that "If this is not solved tomorrow [Sunday], we will announce to the world that the Loya Jirga has failed."

Mujaddidi announced late on Saturday afternoon that key delegates were still tied up in a debate over a single word. "Maybe we will lose our honour over wanting or not wanting a word," he said.

He declined to identify the specific word in question. He told delegates to pray for resolution on this issue.

Other delegates told IWPR late Saturday that the controversial articles still on the table included making Uzbek one of the official languages, and whether ministers can have dual citizenship.

It is not known how many or which delegates were involved in the final debates on key issues. Zalmai Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, and UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi were taking part of the negotiations, sources said.

On Thursday, 231 of the 502 delegates boycotted the vote on changes to five articles of the constitution. Among those boycotting the vote were key jihadis Burhanuddin Rabbani, head of Jamiat-e-Islami, Siddiq Chakari, deputy of Jamiat, Hafiz Mansoor, chief editor of Payam-e-Mujahed newspaper and Waqef Hakimi, chief editor of Mujahed newspaper, as well as Uzbek leader General Abdul Rashid Dostum.

Most of the Pashtun delegates had been willing to participate in the voting.

It was unclear on Saturday how the issues of a national language or dual citizenship might ultimately be resolved.

Dr. Kabir Ranjbar, a delegate from Kabul, said one proposed compromise was that Uzbek would be an official language only in Uzbek-speaking areas. The national language issue would ultimately be resolved by parliament when it is elected in a year, he said.

The draft constitution made Dari and Pashtu the nation¹s official languages. Uzbeks have demanded that their language be included.

Progress on the citizenship issues seemed less clear. Hakimi, who is a delegate from Kabul, said, "We haven't reached absolute resolutions. The important issue is about dual citizenship. All the Loya Jirga is moving around the dual citizenship of some ministers."

Five members of the current interim government are said to have dual citizenship, most prominently Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani. Jihadi leaders want to prohibit future government ministers from holding dual citizenship.

Meanwhile, many of the Pashtun delegates who had agreed to participate in Thursday’s vote, said the current secret negotiations left them feeling ignored.

"No one is contacting us, despite the fact that we are following the agenda, said Rohul Amin Bashir, a delegate from Nangarhar province. “But our opposition was contacted, and UNAMA [UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan], the [Loya Jirga] leadership and Khalilzad listened to their demands.”

Bashir said his side wants to allow ministers to have dual citizenship, and doesn't want Uzbek to be an official language. These weren't such big problems before, he said, but both sides are antagonizing each other over them now.

"If our demands are not accepted, we will boycott tomorrow and we won't sign even if they cut off our hands," he said.

Rahimullah Samander and Danish Karokhel are IWPR reporters/editors in Kabul participating in IWPR’s Loya Jirga reporting project.