The Afghan parliament rejected more than half of President Karzai’s cabinet nominees, including two women, late last week. Rejected nominees also included known warlords, including Ismail Khan. A third woman nominee, Amina Afzali, was confirmed as work and social affairs minister.
Sima Samar, who leads Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission, had previously told Reuters, “I hope that men in Afghanistan will show that all the allegations that they are against women’s rights in their country can be removed and they would take action and vote for these women.”
Parliamentarian Mohammad Ali Sitigh told Morning Star Online that two women who were rejected were well-qualified and that “unfortunately, we have some lawmakers who, even if they see a woman who is very active, talented and well-educated, still can’t vote for a woman.”
According to the BBC, 17 of 24 nominees Karzai submitted two weeks ago were rejected. In the most recent vote 10 of 17 nominees were rejected.
