Afghan parliament starts voting on new cabinet

The Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of the Afghan parliament, has started the voting process to show or deny confidence in minister-designates proposed by President Hamid Karzai.

During the process, which began on Saturday morning and would last several hours, the Afghan MPs would approve or reject 24 ministerial nominees introduced in late December by President Karzai.

The proposed cabinet keeps many key ministers unchanged but leaves the post of foreign minister unfilled.

The introduced new cabinet keeps US favorites in several posts critical to the war and reconstruction in the country, while two ministers accused of corruption by the West have, surprisingly, lost their jobs according to the list.

Meanwhile, Karzai has retained former warlord Ismail Khan, accused of human rights abuses, as minister of water and energy.

The interior, finance and defense ministries from the current cabinet remain unchanged but acting Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, would keep his post until January.

Karzai’s proposed government line-up does not include any figures from the opposition.