03 January,2010 10:02 AM IST | | AFP
Afghan President Hamid Karzai suffered a new blow to his authority when parliament rejected most of his nominees for a new cabinet, including the only woman and a warlord.
Only seven out of 24 nominees were approved by more than 200 lawmakers in a secret ballot on Saturday, throwing Afghanistan into new political uncertainty just weeks ahead of an international conference on the war-ravaged nation.
"Of the 24 nominees introduced to parliament, seven have succeeded in getting your vote of confidence," parliamentary speaker Mohammad Yunus Qanoni said after counting ended.
Karzai's cabinet list was seen by his Western backers as a test of his commitment to building a clean and accountable government and eradicating the corruption that blights Afghanistan and helps fuel the Taliban insurgency.
US and NATO countries fighting the Taliban have made it clear that the billions of dollars in military and development assistance they pour into Afghanistan now depend on concrete action against corruption.
Those voted down included warlord Ismail Khan, nominated for the post of water and energy minister, widely seen as a reward for supporting Karzai during the fraud-tainted August presidential election that returned him to power.
Also rejected was the only woman nominated to a cabinet post, incumbent women's affairs minister Husn Banu Ghazanfar, who lost out by two votes.
