Afghan parliament struggles in first session
20/12/2005 - 11:09:25Afghanistan’s first popularly-elected parliament in more than 30 years struggled with the business of government in its first full session today, haggling over procedural issues and failing to select leaders.
The country has had no elected national assembly since 1973, when coups and a Soviet invasion plunged it into decades of chaos that left more than a million people dead.
The Taliban’s disastrous rule ended in late 2001, when it was deposed by the US-led invasion for sheltering Osama bin Laden.
The long parliamentary blank was apparent today, as the newly-seated politicians haggled over procedural matters.
The debate on how to select the bodies’ leaders was to continue tomorrow.
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