Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan

TheTransitional Islamic State of Afghanistan(TISA), also known as theAfghan Transitional Authority, was the temporary transitional government inAfghanistanestablished by theloya jirgain June 2002. The Transitional Authority succeeded the originalIslamic State of Afghanistanand preceded theIslamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021).
Following the 2001invasion of Afghanistan, aUnited Nations-sponsored conference of Afghan political figures inBonn,Germany, led to the creation of theAfghan Interim Administrationunder the chairmanship ofHamid Karzai. However, this Interim Administration, which was not broadly representative, was scheduled to last only six months before being replaced by a Transitional Administration. The move to this second stage would require the convening of a traditional Afghan "grand assembly", called aLoya Jirga. ThisEmergency Loya Jirgawould elect a new Head of State and appoint the Transitional Administration, which, in turn, would run the country for a maximum of two more years until a "fully representative government" could be elected through free and fair elections.
The most important task for the Loya Jirga was to choose a president for the Transitional Administration who would lead the country until official presidential elections could be held in 2004. Initially, two candidates who had declared to run: former president of Afghanistan and Northern Alliance leaderBurhanuddin Rabbani, and the American-backed chairman of theAfghan Interim AdministrationHamid Karzai. Karzai was also supported byAbdullah AbdullahandMohammad Fahim, two important leaders of theNorthern Alliance. A third possible candidate wasZahir Shah, former king of Afghanistan until 1973. He had spent years living in Rome but returned to Afghanistan after the fall of theTalibanregime. Already at theBonn Conference, which installed the interim administration there was a group of supporters of Zahir Shah, called the Rome-group, advocated for the former king to take up the position of head of state.
Upon arrival in Kabul, more than 800 delegates signed a petition urging the nomination of Zahir Shah as Head of State, if only as a figurehead. In view of the speculation aroused by the petition,United StatesandUnited Nationsrepresentatives pressed the former king to withdraw. The start of the Loya Jirga was delayed from 10 to 11 June because of "logistical and preparatory problems." On June 10, the American representativeZalmay Khalilzadgave a press conference in which he declared that Zahir Shah was not a candidate. The same day, in a press conference, Zahir Shah confirmed this and said "I have no intention of restoring the monarchy. I am not a candidate for any position in the Loya Jirga."Hamid Karzai, who sat next to Zahir Shah at the press conference called Zahir Shah the "father of the nation" and thanked him for the "confidence His Majesty has put in me."The next day former PresidentBurhanuddin Rabbaniwithdrew his candidacy for Head of State in favour of Hamid Karzai "for the sake of national unity"
So it looked like Karzai would go into the race for head of government uncontested, but two other candidates emerged. To be on the ballot at the Loya Jirga, a candidate had to submit 150 signatures for his candidacy.Glam Fareq Majidigathered only 101 signatures, so he was disqualified as a candidate. Former mujahedeen fighterMohammed Asef Mohsonisubmitted a list with 1,050 names for Karzai. And also Masooda Jalal, a woman doctor working with the World Food Programme, and Mahfoz Nadai, an Uzbek army officer, poet, and deputy government minister, gathered enough signatures to be on the ballot.
The election for president of the transitional administration was held by secret ballot on June 13, 2002, with black-and-white photos of the candidates adjacent to their names. Hamid Karzai was chosen with an overwhelming majority of 83% and remained in office as President.
On June 18, the day Karzai was to present his cabinet to the Loya Jirga, he informed the assembly that he needed one more day to finalize his list.
On June 19, the last day of the Loya Jirga, Karzai announced the names of 14 ministers for the futureAfghan transitional administration, including three Vice-Presidents. He also named a Chief Justice. "Do you accept this Cabinet?" Karzai asked the Loya Jirga. After hands went up in support, he said, "All have accepted it, and I am happy about it." This led to some controversy, as delegates stated that there had not been a proper vote and that the cabinet had not been democratically selected but was the result of political negotiations parallel to the Loya jirga.
All three vice-presidential posts named by Karzai were given to commanders of theNorthern Alliance, though Karzai ensured that none of the vice-presidents came from the same ethnic background. After the Loya Jirga, there was some controversy about the government Karzai had named, and several names were added to the list before the actual cabinet was sworn in on June 24, to appease certain factions within Afghanistan. On June 22, Karzai presented more cabinet members, bringing the total number of ministers to 29. This cabinet was installed on June 24, 2002. However, due to controversy around the post of Minister of Women's Affairs, this position remained vacant. Before the end of June, Karzai named a State adviser to the Women's Affairs Ministry and later also appointed a formal Minister of Women's Affairs. In the last days of June, Karzai also added two more vice-presidents and another National Security Adviser.
The interim government, led by a Pashtun, had 12 Tajiks and 9 Pashtuns in its cabinet of ministers. Therefore,Pashtunswanted the subsequent transitional administration to be more representative. In the new administration, there were 13 Pashtun ministers among the 30 ministers. The rest of the cabinet comprised 7 Tajiks, 3 Uzbeks, 2 Hazaras, 2 non-Hazara Shi'ites, and 1 Turkmen.
The Pashtun element in the transitional administration was stronger than in the interim administration, and the Loya Jirga was meant, in part, to increase civilian influence in the government. However, in many ways, Afghanistan's military factions and warlords increased and further legitimized their power during the Loya Jirga. During and after the Loya Jirga, army and police officials threatened, imprisoned, and even killed candidates to stop them from running for the Loya Jirga or to intimidate them from acting independently.The Northern Alliance still dominated the government. The three vice-presidents Karzai announced at the Loya Jirga—Khalili,QadirandFahim—were all Northern Alliance commanders, although none of them had the same ethnic background. The powerfulTajikJamiat-e Islamitrio of Fahim,Qanuni, andAbdullahkept important positions in the new cabinet.
The powerful warlordIsmail Khanwas not part of the administration, but he was represented by his son,Mir Wais Saddiq. However, Saddiq was assassinated in 2004 while serving as minister. Another powerful warlord, theUzbekAbdul Rashid Dostum, was also not part of the cabinet; however, there was one more Uzbek in the transitional administration than in the interim administration.
In the years after the government was established, President Karzai made efforts to limit the worst effects of warlord dominance. For example, he replaced the relatively weak Pashtun who led the Ministry of Interior with the more reform-mindedAli Ahmad Jalali.
At the Loya Jirga, Karzai named former KingZahir Shahthe Father of the Nation. However, some of the king's supporters thought that an honorary title wasn't enough and would have preferred to see him in an official position as president, with Karzai as prime minister. Additionally, two of the king's loyalists,Hedayat Amin ArsalaandAbdul Rassoul Amin, had lost their positions in the interim government. Because the members loyal to Zahir Shah, united in the 'Rome group,' felt they had too little influence, Karzai addedZalmay Rassoulas Security Adviser and Amin Arsala as a fifth vice-president at the end of June.
Karzai was also under pressure to include highly educated Afghans in the administration who had become refugees during the Communist or Taliban rule of Afghanistan and had been educated at Western universities. The most remarkable person Karzai appointed wasAshraf Ghani, who worked at the World Bank, as Finance Minister.Juma Mohammedi, who became Mines Minister, was also a World Bank employee. The new Interior Minister,Taj Mohammad Wardak, held American citizenship, as did Ali Ahmad Jalali, who replaced him as Interior Minister in January 2003.
Because of the issue of Pashtun underrepresentation,Yunus Qanuni, one of the important Northern Alliance leaders, told the opening session he would be resigning as Minister of theinteriorso Karzai could strengthen the national government by broadening its ethnic mix. Yunus Qanuni, the former Interior Minister, was unhappy with the post of Education Minister he had been assigned, as he had expected to become something like a prime minister. Qanuni said he considered not joining the government at all. The rank-and-file Panjshiri troops who dominate the Interior Ministry temporarily blocked off the roads around the Interior Ministry complex in Kabul on June 20 and 21 and brandished weapons to demonstrate that their loyalties remained with Qanuni. They denied the new Interior Minister, the 80-year-old Taj Mohammad Wardak, access to the Interior MinistryAfter Karzai appointed Qanuni as special adviser on security, through which he retained unofficial control over the Afghan intelligence apparatus and became the de facto supervisor of Wardak, he decided to join the administration anyway. However, he also formed a party outside of the government and ran for president in the next elections.
There was also controversy around the post of Minister for Women's Affairs: Interim Women's Affairs Minister Sima Samar had been very outspoken and she had received threats. Complaints against her were filed by the Supreme Court, which eventually decided not to charge her withblasphemy. Because Samar wasn't on the list at the Loya Jirga, there was initially no minister appointed for Women's Affairs. Karzai later appointedMahbuba Huquqmalas State Representative in the Women's Affairs Ministry, and afterward,Habiba Sarabias formal Minister of Women's Affairs.
The Pashtun vice-president wasHaji Abdul Qadeer, one of the few Northern Alliance commanders of Pashtun ethnic origin. On July 6, 2002, Qadir and his son-in-law were killed by gunmen in a surprise attack with an unknown motive. In 2004, one man was sentenced to death and two others to prison sentences for the killing.