Now Karzai moves against women in Afghan politics

News that Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a decree changing his country’s election laws has stirred controversy over his removal of independent foreign members from the Electoral Complaints Commission—the watchdog agency that uncovered cheating by Karzai’s own campaign in last year’s presidential elections. Now, another dubious element in the decree is
coming to light. Karzai is giving his operatives the authority to reduce the number of women in the Afghan parliament. Up to now, women were guaranteed two seats per province in the lower house of parliament, a mechanism designed to promote women’s rights in a country where they have often been under siege. It’s been a bragging point for countries, like Canada, touting
the emergence of Afghan democracy. But Karzai’s decree would apparently waive the two-per-province quota where not enough women were on the ballot.

The Times