Hamid Karzai's new cabinet too big for graft reform

Afghan president Hamid Karzai's proposed new cabinet accommodates the West's demands for honest technocrats who can tackle corruption, but analysts say its bloated size will hamper efforts to combat graft.                                           

The list of new ministers Karzai wants in his government, which was a month in the making, was announced to parliament on Saturday. Most of the top ministers who are seen as technocrats and liked by the West will keep their jobs.                                            

Washington and its allies see the cabinet choices as a vital test of Karzai's commitment to clamping down on corruption after he was re-elected in an August 20 voted marred by widespread fraud.                                           

With an additional 30,000 US troops and thousands more from NATO on their way to Afghanistan at a time when record numbers are being killed fighting the Taliban insurgency, Washington and its allies are under pressure to show Karzai is a worthy partner.                                           

The United Nations has said the cabinet choices were a positive step and Canada, with 2,800 troops in Afghanistan, was the first Western country to say it was "pleased" with the list.                                           

But the addition of an extra ministry to Karzai's cabinet, bringing the total to 25, has not pleased others who say its size will not help the fight against the endemic graft which so angers Western nations who pump in billions of dollars of aid.                                           

Afghan lawmakers had already complained they had not been consulted about the extra office. Some diplomats see the increase as a sign Karzai is creating unnecessary jobs for people who supported him in the disputed August poll.                                           

"The president has a lot of favours that need to be paid back and that will have a lot of implications on the size and effectiveness of the new cabinet," said one Western diplomat in Kabul, who declined to be named.                                           

"The international community needs to see a streamlined cabinet that will react appropriately to the challenges. The more cumbersome the cabinet, the more cumbersome that anti-corruption effort becomes," the diplomat said.                                                                                   

Rivalry, not unity                                           

Karzai's allies have in the past discussed putting a handful of ministers, such as finance minister Omar Zakhilwal, in charge of clusters of ministries as a way to improve oversight.                                            

But increasing the cabinet's size means more ministers will be competing for Karzai's attention and for funding, encouraging rivalry between portfolios rather than political unity.                                           

"When you have more ministries, it's very difficult for president Karzai to manage them ... there will be confrontation between ministers because they will all fight for resources," said Kabul-based political analyst Haroun Mir.                                           

While the West may be relatively satisfied with the cabinet choices, many Afghans were disappointed to see the same faces emerge again. For them it just means more of the same hardships.                                           

"The internationals will be relatively satisfied because the (ministers) they can work with have been kept," said Martine van Bijlert, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network.                                           

"I think for Afghans it shows that nothing has been added to the mix or there's very little that signals change," she said.                                           

Violence is at its worst level since the Taliban were toppled by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001, with record numbers of Afghan civilians killed this year as well as foreign troops.                                           

The expansion of foreign and Afghan forces is likely to lead to even more civilian deaths as the fight against the Taliban-led insurgency intensifies.                                           

Many Afghans feel not enough progress has been made in improving their security and standard of living in the eight years Karzai has been president and wanted to see new blood in key portfolios.                                           

"We don't have new faces in the new cabinet. The old ones will not do anything. In the past eight years, they haven't served the country," said Kabul resident Najmuddin Khan.