By Vicki Silverman
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- For the past four weeks, Afghans in villages and small town throughout the country have been meeting to select delegate-candidates for an Emergency Loya Jirga.

Loya jirga is a unique Afghan institution. The phrase "loya jirga" means "grand assembly" in the Pashto language. Loya jirgas have been convened throughout Afghan history to choose new leaders, adopt constitutions and decide important political matters.

It was natural for Afghan leaders gathered in Bonn in December 2001 to agree to hold a loya jirga as a means to promote the broadest possible discussion and consensus on the shape of a future Afghan government following the collapse of the authoritarian Taliban regime. According to the Bonn Agreement, this loya jirga, officially called the Emergency Loya Jirga, will be convened in Kabul in mid-June.

Deciding who will attend the Emergency Loya Jirga is a three-step process, beginning at the grassroots level. On April 15, Afghans began meeting at the district level, largely through "shuras," the local councils of notables, identifying who might travel to Kabul to express the views of their community on nationhood and governance.

As of early May, officials of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that 1,872 people had been selected in 46 districts. This grassroots-level selection process will continue until May 30, at which time a smaller number of these delegates will emerge from regional elections and travel to Kabul for the opening of the Emergency Loya Jirga in June.

A total of 1450 Afghans delegates will gather in Kabul for the Emergency Loya Jirga. According to the procedures set up by the Special Independent Commission, which set the rules and procedures for this loya jirga process, 399 delegates will be appointed by the Commission to ensure that certain Afghan groups have a voice in molding a new government.

The appointed delegates will include women, minorities, university faculty, trade groups and civil society organization representatives. Members of the Interim Authority, which was designed to serve as the central governing body for only six months, will also be participants in the Emergency Loya Jirga.

The assembled delegates will meet in a former polytechnic institute now being renovated to accommodate the security and communications needs of the delegates. In a highly symbolic gesture, Afghanistan's former king, Zaher Shah, will open the proceeding.

Zaher Shah returned April 18 to Afghanistan from Italy where he lived the past 29 years in exile. During those years, Afghans suffered war, poverty and oppressive regimes. Although the former king has said he has not returned to revive the monarchy, Afghanistan still remains under a 1964 constitution that largely enshrines central authority in the hereditary monarchy. Observers believe Zaher Shah's blessing on the mission of the assembly to develop a new, inclusive system of government will give the new government increased authority.

When the Emergency Loya Jirga concludes its deliberations, it will have outlined the type of government that will replace the Interim Authority, one headed by a prime minister, president, king or some completely new element. This new national authority will govern for two years.

According to the Bonn Agreement, the final shape of government will not be set until a new Afghan constitution is written and adopted, 18 months after the conclusion the Emergency Loya Jirga.

Afghan-Americans, who have been active in mobilizing vital humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, are also closely watching the political developments there. The Washington File spoke recently with Professor Musa Maroofi and Miriam Nawabi, both jurists with a deep interest in the unfolding political developments surrounding the Emergency Loya Jirga.

Maroofi and Nawabi participate in the 21-member Legal Affairs Working Group set up last year to advise the United Nations and Interim Authority on legal and constitutional issues.

"Because I am a lawyer, I see structure as being important," Nawabi said. "The Loya Jirga is part of a process to create the structure of a new government and promote the rule of law which hasn't existed in 23 years."

"Learning from the lessons of history, the Afghan people must decide their own future. That's also what the Loya Jirga is about. It is time for Afghanistan to reclaim its own history," she noted.

Maroofi, who has firsthand knowledge of earlier loya jirgas and Afghan parliamentary affairs, felt Afghans would be somewhat suspicious of the current political process. "It's only natural after years of civil strife," he said, but he predicted the Emergency Loya Jirga would meet peacefully as planned in June.

"The optimism and excitement is really widespread and across generations. I think this is a very good sign...and I think the optimism will increase as people watch the developments. Look at the king's return -- a few years ago it was impossible to imagine Mr. Rabanni and the king in the same city," he said.

Maroofi underscored the need to sustain the current optimism by ensuring the assembly is viewed as fair, multi-linguistic and an internationally supported political process. "I believe the U.N. presence, in the form of experienced international observes who are traveling throughout the country, and the Afghan NGO's are encouraging the process," he said.

The role of the Emergency Loya Jirga is to define Afghanistan's political system and prepare the ground for a new constitution. However, Maroofi made no predictions about the council's eventual decisions.

"The term 'interim authority' is so new to the political lexicon, who can predict the next head of state? It may be a king, or a president or a prime minister. How will ministers be selected? Who will propose and who can turn down name recommendations? What is the relationship of the central government to the local authorities? I don't see how the assembly can avoid these questions," he noted.

Maroofi believes past experience is a poor indicator of the direction of political debate in June 2002. "Local leaders are more independent than ever before. They have risen with the collapse of the Taliban and very much think they've arrived at their position on their own. They are not beholden to a central figure."

"At the same time," he added, " I think they understand Afghans want to see a change in their lives. The general public wants food, medicine, safe schools and safe roads that only a unified government can deliver."