KABUL, Jan 9 – Afghan President Hamid Karzai is set to submit a new list of cabinet nominees to parliament on Saturday, in his second attempt to form a functioning government and end a political crisis, an official said.
Karzai last week ordered the parliament to cancel its winter recess so it could consider new nominations for cabinet posts after throwing out most of his original choices.
Parliamentary speaker Yunus Qanuni said 18 names would be put forward for consideration.
"The list of 18 nominee ministers will soon be presented to parliament by the second vice president," Qanuni told parliamentarians, referring to Mohammed Karim Khalili.
Of the 24 names Karzai put forward for cabinet portfolios, only seven won approval in a secret ballot of 232 of the 249 lawmakers last week.
Seventeen were rejected, and an 18th, the post of foreign minister, was left outstanding.
The rejections have effectively left Afghanistan without a fully functioning government, dragging out a political vacuum that has prevailed since an August presidential election.
Karzai issued a decree last Monday that the legislature should delay its 45-day recess until he proposed new ministers in place of those rejected.
It ordered "the national assembly to postpone leave until the members of the cabinet are approved". Parliament had been due to break last Tuesday.
Nominees must present themselves to parliament and face questioning from MPs before a secret ballot for approval.
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