Plenary session discussions focused on new concepts...

April 19 2006, Kabul Afghanistan: “I wish you had attended the House proceedings that actively,” said Prof. Sebgatullah Mujadedi to a loud burst of laughter from his audience, the membership of the Meshrano Jirga, the upper house of the Afghan National Assembly. Prof. Mujadedi, the Speaker of the Meshrano Jirga was referring to the enthusiastic participation of the Meshrano Jirga members in the three days of intense discussions around the “International Conference on Effective Legislative-Executive Relations”, organized by the Afghan Assembly and UNDP’s SEAL (Support to the Establishment of Afghan Legislature) project.

The April 15-17 Conference was inaugurated by Ameerah Haq, the UNDP Resident Representative in Afghanistan, who said Afghanistan was one of the countries where there has been a significant increase in the number of requests for international assistance to strengthen parliaments. She said UNDP’s SEAL project was designed to address that expressed need, “making legislative assistance a core component of its governance interventions. The UNDP SEAL Project is an example of such coordinated UN response to the request for assistance from the Government of Afghanistan.”

Throughout the three days of intense discussions, both in plenary sessions and in working groups, the members of the Meshrano Jirga took up an array of issues concerning their responsibilities for the oversight over the executive branch of the state, as well as for drafting legislation that should function as a set of guidelines for the government to implement its policies.

Martin Chungong, the Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Division for the Promotion of Democracy, said he was very impressed with the way the members approached the proceedings during the conference. “There is intense willingness to learn, in particular on ways of curbing corruption” he said. “They are very inexperienced and a little bit confused over their role as upper house members. Yet, as far as I can see, this has the makings of an effective legislative organ” he added.

Friedhelm Maier, the Director General and Head of the Parliamentary Services echoed this excitement: “They are having very enthusiastic discussions about their roles as legislators” he said.

... and working groups looked at matters in depth.

The conference not only provided a platform for the Meshrano Jirga members to share experiences with their peers representing legislatures from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India and Canada, but also allowed them to be introduced to such new concepts as “e-governance” and “development finance”.

The forum was much appreciated by the intended beneficiaries. Qazi Mohammad Kaber Marzban, a member of the Meshrano Jirga who also sits on the Telecommunication and Transportation Committee, complimented the guest participants from other legislatures: “They helped us in the fields of law making, budget and internet. We have received a lot of information on how Afghanistan can be part of the international community just like other countries.”

Pointing to the need for further capacity development, he said: “Since Afghanistan did not have a parliament due to three decades of war in this country, there is a need for conferences like this. Since my election to the Meshrano Jirga, I have attended three conferences and now we are able to get a grip of governance affairs.”

Faroq Wardak , Afghanistan ’s Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, effectively the conduit between the legislature and the executive, told the closing session of the conference that the government was eager to cooperate with the legislature to ensure a smooth process of governance. He stressed that the government believed that the separation of powers had to be adhered to and further consolidated.

Rounding up the results of the conference, Monjurul Kabiri, the technical advisor to the SEAL project, said the discussions had been very fruitful and that they had brought to the surface issues that needed to be addressed in the near future. He listed these issues as the improvement of the election system, a reconsideration of the issue of a party political system, improved legal-advisory services for National Assembly members and a more systematic struggle against corruption.

The SEAL project is to continue its efforts to support the Afghan national legislature to tackle these and other vital issues.

For further information on the conference, please contact:

Mr. Monjurul Kabir,
Legislative Adviser, SEAL/UNDP
Tel: 0799 046 407
monjurul.kabir@undp.org

Mr. Tariq Sediq
Programme Officer, SEAL/UNDP
Tel: 070 151 694
tariq.sediq@undp.org