The Times
Jerome Starkey in Kabul

President Karzai suffered a humiliating blow to his authority yesterday after parliament rejected two-thirds of his nominees for a new cabinet, including the only woman and a warlord accused of human rights abuses.

The head of the United Nations in Kabul warned that Afghanistan risked floundering “without a functioning government”, after just seven of the president’s 24 ministerial candidates were approved in a secret ballot.

“It prolongs the situation without a functioning government, and that’s a situation that has lasted since the election period [in August],” said Kai Eide, the Norwegian head of the UN mission in Kabul. “I think most of us were surprised by how many ministers were not approved.” (Read more…)