On the eve of the opening of the first Afghan parliament in decades, MPs and ordinary Afghans hope that for all its flaws and despite renewed Taliban threats it will help end the nation’s long cycle of violence.Monday’s inauguration of the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga, or Lower House of Parliament, and the 102-member Upper House, or Meshrano Jirga, will be attended by US Vice President Dick Cheney and other foreign dignitaries and marked by tight security.On Friday, a bomber died and two passers-by were hurt in a Taliban suicide attack on NATO-led peacekeepers near the parliament building. On Sunday, an insurgent commander warned Afghans to stay away, saying it could be attacked ‘‘at any time’’.The Taliban has declared the parliament ‘‘bogus’’ and a symbol of US occupation. ‘‘Killing agents of foreign infidels is permissible,’’ said Taliban commander Mullah Sabir Momin.Despite threats from the guerrillas, who have stepped up attacks in recent weeks, MPs and ordinary Afghans hope the parliament will bolster stability after decades of bloodshed.‘‘The Taliban cannot do anything to the parliament, they are not a threat. The people need a parliament,’’ said Mullah Salman Rocketi, a Taliban commander who defected and is now an MP for the insurgent-troubled province of Zabul.Even though many are disappointed by UN-backed September polls that were marred by fraud and gave seats to warlords accused of rights abuses, there are hopes for a new beginning.Protagonists from three decades of conflict, including former Communists, leaders of guerrilla groups that overthrew them and ex-Taliban officials, will sit side by side with a clutch of new idealistic technocrats and women’s activists.The latter say the presence of warlords is far from ideal, but there are hopes the diversity of the first elected legislature since the 1970s will bring further reconciliation in a country still fragile despite billions of dollars of Western aid aimed at building a moderate Muslim state to counter Islamist radicalism.‘‘It is not accidental the political crisis in Afghanistan started when parliament failed,” he said adding that ‘‘The diversity of the parliament is absolutely positive. One should not expect no differences of ideas. But we should learn to tolerate each other and to debate and come to conclusions.’’Four years after US-led forces toppled the Taliban, many are disappointed by the failure of Karzai’s government and are struggling to cope with soaring prices and lack of jobs. They are hoping for change. —Reuters
