KABUL, Dec 15: Afghanistan’s parliament convenes on Monday for the first time in 30 years, signalling the return to the political foreground of warlords responsible for decades of ruinous conflict and the arrival of women. But despite the political reforms and the support of the international community and its military, the situation in the country remains precarious and threatened by growing insecurity, corruption and the trafficking of drugs.

There is much that is still unclear about the new parliament, which will have 249 seats in the lower house and 102 in the upper house.

Even details for its first sessions have not yet been finalized, according to MPs at an orientation course this week.

Monday’s opening will be a ceremony of government officials and foreign dignitaries with the parliament likely adjourned immediately afterwards until January when it will sit for two weeks, they said.

After a break for February’s harsh winter, it is expected to convene again in March.

What is clear though is that the body will have wide-ranging powers, particularly the lower house (Wolesi Jirga) which will be able take decisions on matters of national sovereignty, alter the constitution, approve the budget, reject government appointments and even put the president on trial.

What is still to be seen is whether the president will find majority support in both houses.

“Karzai needs a majority at the parliament because he’s in a sensitive position: in the provinces, people are angry because of slow reconstruction, despite billions of dollars of international aid, the rise of prices and corruption,” said former minister Hamidullah Tarzi.

The allegiances within the parliament are difficult to determine because of the absence of political parties.—AFP