Afghan MPs reject two-thirds of Karzai's cabinet

KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan parliament dealt President Hamid Karzai a painful blow on Saturday when it rejected more than two-thirds of his cabinet nominees, including several close allies and former guerrilla commander Ismail Khan.

The justice, commerce, energy, economy, counter-narcotics and public health portfolios were among those still open after parliamentarians made full use of a rare opportunity to hold Karzai to account.

Seventeen of a total of 24 candidates were turned down.

"It was a clear vote of no confidence," said Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister under Karzai and later his main rival in last year's contested presidential election.

"I think he lost in the general elections, he lost in introducing his cabinet," he told Reuters.

Khan, the unsuccessful candidate for energy minister, was probably the highest profile scalp claimed by parliament.

A renowned anti-Soviet guerrilla leader and anti-Taliban commander, he is unpopular with some because of his role in an era when Afghanistan was divided by civil war.

The outcome should have a limited impact on government policy since a series of the most powerful ministers from his last cabinet -- including finance, defense, interior, education and agriculture -- were returned to their posts.

The effect on Karzai may be more profound. He has been humbled and politically weakened, and will have to return to parliament to seek approval for more than half his cabinet.

At his inauguration in November, he pledged a fresh start after an election marred by fraud and violence, but disappointed many by presenting a cabinet of familiar names.

Parliamentarians have thrown his promise back in his face, so it would be a huge political gamble were Karzai to submit more well-known names from earlier cabinets in a new list of nominees.

WINTER BREAK

"We will ask Karzai not to introduce incompetent ministers again," said Sayed Dawood Hashimi, a representative for Kabul.

"Some of the ministers were involved in corruption and misuse of their government status and that is why we rejected them."

Karzai may have to hobble on for more than a month without a government, since parliament is due to start its winter break next week and it would be virtually impossible to find, nominate and vote on candidates before then.

False confidence may have played a role. Many ministers had considered the confirmation proceedings little more than a formality, and Karzai himself was visiting the southern province of Helmand when the voting took place.

However, they produced high political drama.

"Yes" and "No" ballots cast for each minister were counted in front of parliament and the session stayed open for about six extra hours to finish the laborious process.

One nominee was rejected by a margin of just two votes.

Behind-the-scenes lobbying is vital in a parliament where there are no strong parties and webs of conflicting ethnic and political interests have been further complicated by years of conflict.

Cabinet approvals are one of the few areas where parliament has genuine power to hold the executive to account.

At a time when security and corruption problems are worsening dramatically, representatives have relished that influence, with the rejections following days questioning of prospective ministers on past policy and future plans.

The secret ballot system also made it easier to vote against powerful figures such as Khan, although in a country where corruption is a major problem it aroused speculation that ministers might find it easier to buy votes from MPs who did not have to answer to their public.

Close Karzai allies also rejected included public health nominee Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatimi and communications candidate Amirzai Sangeen. The only female candidate, women's affairs nominee Husn Bano Ghazanfar, was also rejected.

(Additional reporting by Jonathon Burch; editing by Andrew Dobbie)