<B>Afghan</B> monarchists have thrown their support behind President Hamid Karzai and his vision of a strong presidential system in a constitution being debated in Kabul, a member of the royalist camp said yesterday.

The pro-monarchy faction claims the support of nearly 80 delegates out of 502 at the Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly), which since December 14 has been debating a draft constitution that outlines sweeping powers for the president. ?Our executive council held a meeting with our delegates,? said Hakim Noorzai, a staunch supporter of Afghanistan?s former king Mohammad Zahir Shah, who was given the symbolic title of ?father of the nation? in the draft document. ?We discussed both proposed systems and we reached a conclusion to go for the presidential system, as this is what Afghanistan needs,? he told Reuters.

A strong parliamentary system would be harmful for Afghanistan, as ?warlords? still controlled large swathes of the country and would influence it, Noorzai said, when asked why the group had decided to back Karzai. Royalists draw most of their support from the largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, to which Karzai belongs and which traditionally rules Afghanistan.

Karzai insists that, as Afghanistan emerges from 23 years of invasion and civil war, the country needs centralised power for the sake of unity amongst its various ethnic clans. The 46-year-old Karzai, installed to power with the help of the United States after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, needs a simple majority at the Loya Jirga to win his way.

Majahideen opposed

His opponents, mainly from the Northern Alliance of former anti-Soviet mujahideen (holy warriors), argue that sweeping powers would create a despotic regime that could damage national unity. They are led by former President Burhanuddin Rabbani and General Abdul Rashid Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek strongman who also serves as Karzai?s adviser on military and security issues. They want the constitution to include the position of prime minister, which Karzai fears could compromise his control. The dissenters say Karzai has used ministers to secure delegates? votes in return for promises of cabinet posts in the future government.

Several opponents of Karzai have threatened not to sign the final draft of the document, saying a boycott would challenge its legitimacy. It is unlikely, however, that there will be enough dissenters to force major changes to the draft constitution. The assembly is expected to begin voting on the constitution later this week.

Yesterday, Sheikh Asif Mohseni, a prominent religious figure and leader of a mujahideen group, urged delegates to ask for war damages from the former Soviet Union, which invaded Afghanistan in 1979 only to retreat in defeat a decade later. The role of Islam, women?s rights and a share of power among the ethnic groups are among the most sensitive issues alongside which type of political system to adopt.

Sayed Salahuddin