KABUL — The Afghan Parliament voted to dismiss the two most powerful members of the government’s security team Saturday, a surprise move that could create new turmoil in an already-troubled hand-over of control as the U.S.-led coalition prepares to leave the country.
Lawmakers said they wanted to oust the defense minister, a longtime friend of the United States, and the interior minister, who oversees the nation’s police force, in part because of endemic corruption in their ministries and because they failed to adequately protect the country against recent cross-border shelling from Pakistan.
President Hamid Karzai could try to delay the men’s departure, but early indications were that he might accede to Parliament’s wishes.
Shifting power now would inevitably roil both ministries, which are filled with political appointees tied to their leaders, and pull their focus away from the urgent task of fighting the insurgency and controlling criminal elements in the country. The change would come as Afghan soldiers and police are taking over more responsibility for security.
Defense Minister Rahim Wardak and Interior Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammedi shoulder most of the responsibility for helping the country build a strong enough army and police force to fight the Taliban without the coalition forces who have led the fight for more than a decade.
Wardak has focused on building up the Afghan army’s equipment and forging relations with foreign allies — having served in his post since 2004. Mohammedi has worked in security posts since the fall of the Taliban, including as chief of staff of the army.
“Even if this is only a political gesture and current ministers stay, this is a warning about the weakness of the Karzai government, a reflection of the deep divisions in the Afghan legislature and an indication of the kind of far deeper ethnic and sectarian splits that may come as the transition proceeds,” said Anthony Cordesman, an expert on the war at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
At worst, he added, it could “have a major impact on morale” and “create at least several months of turmoil at the top at a time when there are only about 30 months before” most U.S. and coalition forces are gone.
