Second Karzai cabinet
| Second Karzai cabinet | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date formed | 19 November 2009 |
| Date dissolved | 29 September 2014 |
| People and organisations | |
| Head of state | Hamid Karzai |
| Head of government | Hamid Karzai |
| No. of ministers | 25 |
| Total no. of ministers | 25 |
| History | |
| Predecessor | First Karzai cabinet |
| Successor | Ghani cabinet |
The second Karzai cabinet is the cabinet of Afghanistan that leads the government from the re-election of president Hamid Karzai in 2009 until the end of his term in 2014. Currently, the cabinet consists of the president, his two vice-presidents, 18 ministers who have received approval from the Afghan Parliament, and 7 acting ministers who have not been approved.
Under the Afghan constitution the president nominates the ministers, but the Lower House of Parliament needs to approve them. After the fraud-plagued re-election of Karzai in the fall of 2009 and after reports about widespread corruption in the highest circles of the government, Karzai desperately needed to restore his legitimacy at home and abroad. During his inauguration speech, Karzai pledged to "end the culture of impunity and violation of law and bring to justice those involved in spreading corruption and abuse" and make it "obligatory for senior government officials to identify the sources of their assets and to declare their properties in a transparent manner". Western officials publicly said his lineup of minister candidates would be a first vital test to show whether he was serious about combating corruption, which undermined his government's credibility and fed the Taliban insurgency.
So Karzai was under pressure to exclude ineffective or corrupt officials, but at the same time powerful Afghans who helped deliver his re-election were promised or demanding positions, including the Uzbek warlord, Abdul Rashid Dostum.
On 19 December 2009 Karzai presented his list of 25 proposed cabinet members. There was no candidate named for the position of Foreign Minister, since Karzai wanted to keep to disputed foreign minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta until the International Conference on Afghanistan in London on 28 January 2010. Furthermore, Karzai retained the heads of high-profile ministries of Defense and Interior, who were regarded in Washington as experienced professionals. The finance, justice, education, water and energy, women's affairs, agriculture, counter-narcotics and telecommunication ministers were renamed. The most important portfolios were given a U.S. approval by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, when she attended Karzai's inauguration in November 2009.
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Wikipedia