KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai responded Sunday to parliament's dismissal of his defence and interior ministers by retaining them as caretakers, keeping the country's security team intact but infuriating lawmakers who suspect he may keep them on indefinitely.
The potential removal of both the heads of the military and the police comes during a crucial transition as Afghan forces increasingly take over security responsibility from departing international troops, who are scheduled to leave Afghanistan or move into support roles by the end of 2014.
Legislators voted to disqualify Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and Interior Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi on Saturday after questioning the two on what they said was a weak government response to cross-border attacks that Afghans blame on the Pakistani military and on allegations of corruption in their ministries.
Karzai met with the National Security Council the next day and his office issued a statement saying that the council "respects parliament's constitutional decision" in passing a no confidence vote, but also that the president instructed them "to continue in office until new replacements are introduced within the provisions of law."
That language drew immediate condemnation from lawmakers who said the president is overriding the parliament's authority by keeping on the ministers even temporarily.
"This decision of President Karzai is completely against the law. He doesn't have the authority to keep a minister that has gotten a no-confidence vote of the parliament. He should have immediately have introduced new nominees," said Gul Pacha Mujedi, a lawmaker from the eastern province of Paktia.
Karzai could still quickly name replacements for Wardak and Mohammadi, but in past no confidence votes he has simply kept other ministers in their jobs in an acting capacity and then dragged out the replacement process, effectively nullifying the no confidence vote.
Lawmakers suspect he is using the same technique to avoid changes to his Cabinet at a time when his government struggles to project an image of a slowly improving military and police force that will be capable of keeping the Taliban insurgents from regaining ground once most international troops leave.
