KABUL, Afghanistan — Semeen Barakzai lies in a white tent outside the Parliament building in Kabul.
Having refused food and liquids for more than 11 days, she is very weak. Her kidneys are failing, she has been rushed to hospital on one occasion, and her family, friends and supporters fear for her life.
“My sole aim is to ensure justice,” she said in an interview several days ago, her voice even then barely above a whisper. “Either my appeal will be accepted by the appropriate national and international entities or my life will end.”
Barakzai is protesting what she sees as illegal and unjust actions by President Hamid Karzai’s government against her and colleagues in Parliament.
She was one of nine MPs expelled from the legislature for alleged fraud in a long-running clash between the executive and legislative branches that has paralyzed the government for more than a year. Many believe the conflict could well lead to a complete collapse of the system if it is not resolved soon.
Karzai and a host of other government officials have visited Barakzai her tent to plead for an end to her hunger strike and to offer reassurances that a solution will be found. But nothing has yet been done, said her husband, Mohammad Barakzai. The couple is not prepared to take empty promises.
Categories: Afghanistan, United States, War
From article:
“The big losers in this dangerous and unsavory game are, of course, the Afghan people. Not only are they being deprived of a working government, they are fast losing faith in the entire democratic process.”
Hmmm. Jesus said “Sabbath was made for man, not man for Sabbath.” Should be likewise with democracy, no?
Bogged down in bureaucracy, conflicting interpretations and understandings of the process, and individual (not to mention global) power games, the Afghan democracy has barely been laid in the cradle, and already it has become subject to its own suffocation.
Power to the people indeed.