Afghanistan is showing evidence of respect for parliamentary supremacy. The Wolesi Jirga, the country's lower house of parliament, has rejected 17 of President Hamid Karzai's 24 cabinet choices. There is still much work to do to build a less corrupt Afghan state, but these votes are a welcome sign of the country's maturing democracy.
Some worry about the consequences of the MPs' actions. Kai Eide, the head of the UN mission, lamented that the government will not be complete for an international conference on Afghanistan at the end of the month. Others believe ethnic politics drove the MPs. Mr. Karzai has asked them to postpone their usual winter recess until the important work of confirming new members of the cabinet is done.
But two elections - one past, one future - make the decision justifiable. The memory of a bitter presidential election result lingers; Mr. Karzai rigged the outcome in the first round, and only the refusal of Abdullah Abdullah, the second-place candidate, to stand in a runoff returned Mr. Karzai to the presidential palace unimpeded. Parliamentarians were rightly concerned that Mr. Karzai's cabinet-making was marked by his old habits of cronyism and a lack of consultation. The rejection of his choices has sent him a message saying that he must change. But MPs are accountable themselves; with a parliamentary election scheduled for May, Afghans will be able to pass verdict on their representatives' decision to stand up to Mr. Karzai.
Moreover, the incumbents in the key posts that command most of the government's resources - defence, interior and finance - were reconfirmed. The parliamentarians appeared to be acting with care, making their dissatisfaction clear without going so far as to destabilize the administration of the country's affairs.
Afghanistan is a war theatre where people who have refused to be part of the country's political future - members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban - still roam, often at the expense of Canadian lives. Canadians are fighting to help the country secure itself and manage its own affairs. A vibrant public sphere, including peaceful political conflict and counter-balances to the potential misuse of presidential authority, are necessary preconditions. Afghanistan's parliamentarians are right to be practising responsible government.