Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, June 13, 2002
Karzai Officially Nominated As Head of State
Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai Thursday was formally named as a candidate for head of state at a session of the Loya Jirga (the Afghan grand council), which will empower him to form a transitional government.
Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai Thursday was formally named as a candidate for head of state at a session of the Loya Jirga (the Afghan grand council), which will empower him to form a transitional government.
Besides Karzai's nomination, other nominees included Masooda Jalal, a female who works for the World Food program, Glam Fareq Majidi and Mir Mohammed Mahfoz Nadai.
Karzai was considered certain to win an election for the top post of the country.
Earlier Thursday, Chairman of the Special Commission for the Loya Jirga Professor Ismael Qasemyar was elected Chairman of the Loya Jirga after Wednesday's heated discussions among delegates.
Out of the total 1,551 delegates, 1,525 took part in the votingand Qasemyar got 889 votes in secret balloting, a remarkable edge over other three candidates.
Seema Samar, the current interim women's affairs minister, was chosen as his top deputy.
According to the agenda announced by the Special Commission, Wednesday's session should elect the chairman of the Loya Jirga and the leader of the transitional government, but the process wasimpeded due to heated discussions and quarrels among delegates.
The participants have debated over a wide range of issues, fromvoting procedures, the length of the meeting to former king Mohammad Zahir Shah's title, "Father of the Nation," which was proposed by Karzai at the opening ceremony.