The Loya Jirga (grand assembly) is an honoured Afghan tradition but last month the US-installed president of Afghanistan used it as a cover to surrender to the Taliban. While the move is welcome, the manner in which it was utilized is not so honourable
President Hamid Karzai wants American troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 deadline and he has agreed to all their terms but he does not want to take responsibility for the deal. He is trying to be clever by asking the Loya Jirga to take responsibility while at the same time he has said its signing should be postponed until after the presidential elections next April.
fghanistan’s long-awaited Loya Jirga (council of leaders) finally opened 24 hours late, on June 11. The circumstances make it clear that the traditional Afghan institution is in fact now little more than a front for decisions being made behind the scenes by the country’s established faction leaders...
The mother of all Jirgas, touted as the panacea for all of Afghanistan’s problems, is turning into a grand farce. Amid allegations that tribal elders have been offered bribes of up to US$1,000 by various warlords in Paktia province to elect them to the Loya Jirga...
