New constitution

Kabul

A loya jirga, or grand council, of 502 delegates met in Kabul this week to finalize Afghanistan’s first post-Taliban constitution. All of the country’s major players were in attendance, including warlords, mullahs, feminists, and officials loyal to President Hamid Karzai. They will spend two weeks deciding whether and how to amend the draft constitution Karzai supports, which provides for a strong presidential system and defers to Islamic law but does not impose the strictest form of sharia. The compromising has already begun: After the 100 women delegates complained of being shut out of leadership positions, a woman was named as one of the loya jirga’s four deputy chairpersons.