Afghan new constitution draft to be made public within days

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 03, 2003

Afghan new constitution draft to be made public within days

The much-awaited draft of Afghanistan's new constitution would be made public in the coming days, an official of the Constitutional Review Commission said in Kabul on Sunday.

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The much-awaited draft of Afghanistan's new constitution would be made public in the coming days, an official of the Constitutional Review Commission said in Kabul on Sunday.

"We are going to release the 65-page draft on Monday to the press in order to make it public and accessible to all Afghan citizens," commission spokesman Abdul Ghafoor Lewal told Xinhua.

It would be published either on Tuesday or Wednesday by national publications in both Pashtoo and Dari, two major local languages, he added.

The release of the constitution draft was widely expected in late September or early October.

Sources familiar with the drafting process said differences between the transitional government and the constitution drafting commission over the national anthem, an emphasis on enforcement ofthe Islamic law, formation of the government, term of parliament and tenure of the head of state led to the delay.

In a final version of the constitution draft, there would be nopost of prime minister in the government, and the president would rule the country for five years, according to the sources.

The new draft, which had been revised after a one-month review process with the participation of some 200,000 people across the country in August, will both stress the role of Islam in Afghanistan and enshrine democratic norms, said the spokesman.

A Loya Jirga, or grand assembly, scheduled for next month is expected to approve the new constitution, under which the name of the country would be proposed as "the Islamic State of Afghanistan".

Describing the constitution draft as the most balanced one in the country's history, Lewal said "we are hopeful to get approval from the constitutional Loya Jirga."

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