Pro-Karzai leaflets land in Wolesi Jirga

KABUL): A youth organisation on Saturday distributed pamphlets to lawmakers as part of its campaign for changes to the Constitution to allow President Karzai to stay in power beyond the end of his second term next year.

However, Karzai has categorically ruled out running for the presidential office for a third time.

The same group — Association of Youth Movement — had recently arranged a big gathering in the Arghandab district of southern Kandahar province to push for amendments to the Constitution.

The pamphlets read: “To safeguard the interests of Afghanistan and to preserve the gains achieved over the past decade, we want such changes to the constitution as allow President Karzai to run for a third term.”

“If Karzai stands in upcoming elections, we will vote for him keeping in view the progress made (under his leadership) so far to fulfill our national responsibility.” The leaflets say.

The movement asked people to fill out the forms and return them to it, if they agreed so. One of the distributors, when approached by this scribe, avoided making any comments. Calls seeking comment from the group leader, Sayel, also went unanswered.

But the association drew strong condemnation from lawmakers, calling the demand as unconstitutional. MP Shakiba Hashmi from Kandahar said the demand ran counter to the constitution and no change in the elections timetable was acceptable.

Another MP from the same province, Mohammad Naeem Lalai, said the association had the backing of the Kandahar Provincial Council and the president’s brother, Shah Wali Karzai.

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