Karzai refuses compromise on constitution

President Hamid Karzai again ruled out any compromise on Afghanistan's new constitution Wednesday as delegates to the grand assembly failed to reach agreement on the draft document designed to pave the way to the country's first democratic elections.
Some 100 delegates have thrown the loya jirga, or grand assembly, into disarray by threatening a boycott after claiming the amended constitution had been tampered with by ministers.
Karzai said there were just "four or five people trying to sabotage" the meeting and ruled out any compromise with those opposed to his favoured presidential system set out in the draft constitution.
"There won't be any deals on Afghanistan's system of government, neither with jihadi leaders nor with anyone else," said Karzai, referring to some powerful former anti-Soviet fighters who favour a parliamentary system.
"There will not be any deal on Afghanistan's future, stability or security," he told reporters.
"We want this constitution in a way to prevent deals on Afghanistan, the system that I have proposed is to prevent deals."
A meeting of 96 delegates, three from each province, failed to agree over disputed articles on official languages, presidential powers and a call by an anti-Taleban Northern Alliance faction, which favours a parliamentary form, for setting up a constitution council to oversee implementation of the constitution.
Loya jirga chairman Sebghatullah Mujadidi adjourned the session and said voting on the disputed articles would start Thursday regardless of the impasse.
Now into its third week, it is not known when the loya jirga, which has been dubbed the "loya jagra" ("big fight") by some Afghans, will finish although Karzai said it could be over in two or three days. It opened on December 14 and was originally expected to take 10 days.
Most of the draft's 160 articles have been accepted without opposition but a handful dealing with the power of the president and official languages have provoked heated exchanges.
Some delegates from Northern Alliance factions want three vice president posts instead of one to dilute presidential powers. Ethnic Uzbeks also want a vice presidential post to give them better representation.