June 11, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 10, 1424

PARIS, June 10: A former adviser to Ahmad Shah Masoud who is currently working on the drafting of a new constitution for Afghanistan, Abdul Hai Elahi has revealed that according to a questionnaire sent out to the Afghan population, “the majority wants to have an Islamic republic.”

Interviewed in Tuesday’s issue of Le Figaro, Mr Elahi noted that “the questionnaires we sent out to the Afghan population gave them the choice among a constitutional monarchy, a secular republic, and an Islamic republic. As it turned out, a majority of Afghans said they wanted an Islamic republic.”

“But,” he warns, “the Islamic republic that is being proposed has nothing to do with the brand of Islam that the Taliban used to impose their tyranny. In Afghanistan Islam has always been the cement that holds society together. What we will end up having, in the end, will undoubtedly be a presidential regime with a head of state elected through universal suffrage. In order to be able to undergo its reconstruction, Afghanistan needs a powerful leader.”

And, when the day comes for Afghanistan to hold elections, Mr Elahi stressed, the future constitution would call for universal suffrage, “which means,” he says, “that women will have the right to vote”.