The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand’s doing:

The Afghan parliament has turned down 17 out of President Hamid Karzai’s 24 nominees for his new Cabinet.

Energy minister nominee Ismail Khan, a former warlord, was among the rejected.

Nominees for justice, health, commerce, economy and women’s affairs were among others rejected, but Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak was re-appointed.

The BBC’s Kabul correspondent says the results complicate Mr Karzai’s efforts to repay political favours with Cabinet posts without offending parliament.

Oh, Karzai will have that chance soon enough, I’d gather. Parliamentary elections are scheduled in Afghanistan for the spring, despite objections from the UN and US officials who say that the corruption issues from last summer’s Presidential elections have not been remedied. Karzai’s Election Commission still determines the rules for the ballot.

It’s actually good news that the Afghan Parliament is striking back against the clear bribery at work with the cabinet choices. But I hope they aren’t running for re-election…