KABUL, Afghanistan: Newly elected Afghan lawmakers plan a political showdown this weekend with President Hamid Karzai over his decision to postpone the opening session of parliament for a month so a tribunal can keep investigating allegations of election fraud. More than 200 lawmakers met Friday at a hotel in the Afghan capital and strongly reiterated their decision to defy Karzai by opening the parliament on Sunday as planned – even if the president doesn't show up. Afghan law requires him to attend the first meeting of the legislature. In an attempt to avoid a political crisis, Karzai sent a representative to the hotel to invite all members of parliament to discuss the issue over lunch Saturday at the presidential palace, according to lawmakers at the gathering. They say they hope they can persuade Karzai to change his mind about delaying the start of parliament, but say they won't back down from the plan to hold their inaugural session Sunday – with or without the president. “If the police don't let us in the parliament, we can meet in the street, the road – there are open fields,” said Mohammad Akbari, a parliamentarian from Bamiyan province. “We are against tension and protests, but we are the representatives of the Afghan people. The president cannot postpone parliament. We are in the right.” Karzai's decision to delay parliament's opening was in response to a request for more time by a special tribunal set up last month to investigate allegations of fraud in September's parliamentary elections. The parliament is seen as weak compared with Karzai's administration, but the legislature has successfully blocked many of the president's Cabinet appointments and been the primary dissenting voice to the powerful executive. Mohammad Anwar Khan Horyakhil, a member of parliament from Kabul, predicted that more than 200 lawmakers, each with several bodyguards, will show up at the parliament building Sunday. He said he did not want to see any violence on Sunday, “but we are not a small group.” In a signal to Karzai that the international community is standing behind the lawmakers, the United Nations expressed its “deep concern and surprise” at the president's order for a delay.
