Ask Afghans to single out the biggest challenge facing their country, and corruption will almost certainly be the first answer. Today, they may get some rare good news on that front, as President Karzai is scheduled to give his final approval for the Advisory Panel for Presidential Appointments (APPA). According to the final draft of its terms of reference (which I hope to post shortly), this panel would vet executive appointees for certain senior posts on three criteria: corruption, competence, and culpability for past atrocities. Among others, no future Governors, Deputy Ministers, chiefs of police, or chiefs of security will be able to get appointed without clearance from this five-member panel.
First, the good news. As I mentioned in the last post, top diplomats and Afghan civil society leaders have been putting serious political capital behind this. As the call for transitional justice has shifted, at least temporarily, into a focus on vetting, this panel has become a top priority. Despite this, just a few weeks ago, it seemed the year-long fight to establish the APPA was lost. At other moments, it looked like the panel might have the power to advise on, but not block, an appointment. Most think that Karzai’s Chief of Staff, Omar Daoudzai, had been actively working to undermine or at least weaken the panel. Given these hurdles, the establishment of the APPA is a laudable success.
Relevant donors and partners met on Monday, and it looks like the Asia Foundation will provide much-needed technical support to the Panel and its Secretariat. The Canadians are set to fund the Panel for the coming year (any readers who have good relations with the Canadian Embassy might want to drop them a line on this).
On the downside, some players are skeptical that this panel will have the courage or inclination to disagree with Karzai, or that the President would even honor its decisions. People ask why this should produce results any different from the vetting (or disastrous lack thereof) during parliamentary elections. Critics will note that the current structure has the APPA answering directly to the Chief of Staff. While advocates hope to increase its independence, including making it an independent line item in future Executive budgets, this certainly underscores the influence Daoudzai will be able to wield over the panel.
One of the biggest questions is where the Americans stand. So far, the US Embassy has given rhetorical support to the APPA and has been following quite closely the last rounds of negotiations. But they have not put serious diplomatic pressure behind this. As one senior diplomat said, this panel will have exactly zero influence unless the US--and particularly the US military, not the Embassy–-sees it as a useful tool for marginalizing the worst individuals. For the US, other priorities are a distant second to security, and little recognition exists of any causal link between the insurgency and corruption. Security experts here note that the ranks of the insurgency are being filled as much by villagers fed up with corruption as by those we would traditionally call Talibs.
One hope, even among the cynics, is that President Karzai is supporting this panel to give himself political cover for not appointing certain cronies. The logic is that he can avoid empowering certain actors with the explanation that his hands are tied.
Speaking of Karzai’s cronies, people in the development community have taken to a shorthand for such folks – Friends of Karzai, or FOKers (as in Meet the Fockers).
No one is arguing that corruption has been solved, but it looks like Afghans and the international community now have a potentially powerful new tool for addressing it. The key will be to ensure that the panel has the financial and diplomatic support to succeed. For now though, the generally deflated justice crowd has a victory to celebrate.
NOTE: If for any reason the President does not sign off on this today, I will repost on that. Please keep comments or questions coming at tom@avaaz.org.
Tom Perriello is a Fellow of the Century Foundation currently in Afghanistan researching the intersection of justice and security.
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