Karzai's Cabinet Choices Rejected

Apparently President Hamid Karzai carries little credibility with his own parliament, as lawmakers on Saturday rejected 17 of his 24 nominees. After winning elections marred by fraud, Karzai has been under pressure to reform his government by purging his cabinet of officials linked to corruption. Parliament justified their outright rejection of Karzai's choices by claiming that the president didn't properly consult them during the nomination process and that his choices wouldn't have properly represented Afghanistan's ethnic mix. None of the nominees received even two-thirds of the votes, and of the seven approved, some were confirmed by only a handful of votes. One member of parliament said that it was the moderates and technocrats who were approved, while nominees who represented political parties were rejected.