KABUL, Afghanistan — Members of the Afghan Parliament came to blows Tuesday as a majority for the first time began to discuss impeaching President , signaling the near-total breakdown of relations between the Parliament and the president as the country teeters on the brink of a constitutional crisis.
Christoph Bangert for The New York Times
Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, left, and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan offered no solutions for the Parliament's deadlock.
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The dispute centers on the legality of a special court set up by President Karzai to adjudicate allegations of fraud by candidates who lost their seats or were disqualified in last September’s parliamentary elections. Two weeks ago the special court ruled that 62 members of the current Parliament should be replaced by those who brought challenges, many of whom are allies of the president.
Neither the country’s election authorities nor the international community have recognized the court’s authority, and the prospect of now having to give up their seats has enraged a large bloc of the current 249-seat Parliament. All of the legislators have already been sworn in.
The fight between the Parliament and Mr. Karzai has halted the normal workings of government. Nine months after the election, the president has yet to introduce a transitional government — or to submit proposed legislation for review. He has been ruling by decree and by allowing a number of acting ministers and acting Supreme Court justices to remain in charge.
The result is a situation in which the majority of the Parliament does not trust the president; he has lost trust in them as well as they have become more hostile and estranged.
In clips of the session broadcast on the Afghan Tolo Television Network, most members of Parliament appeared to be present Tuesday as the impeachment discussion got under way with much shouting and banging on desks. “The president is sick,” said Mohammed Shafiq Shahir, a member of Parliament from Herat.
He was drowned out by one of Mr. Karzai’s defenders, a member of Parliament from Kandahar, Abdul Rahim Ayoubi. There was no substitute for the president, he argued. “Do we have an alternative for the president, do we have the knowledge and wisdom of running the country ourselves?” he asked. “Why should we sacrifice the achievements gained by the blood and money and sacrifice of the international community and sacrifice it in favor of 62 fraudulent Parliament members?”
The Afghan Constitution provides for the impeachment of the president under Article 69, which says that crimes against humanity, national treason or other crimes can be grounds for the chief executive’s removal.
Soon after Mr. Ayoubi spoke, Hamida Ahmadzai, who represents the Kuchis, a Pashtun minority, expressed her support of the president’s position. She had previously been part of a coalition of Parliament members who had agreed to stand together against the special court.
Her switch in position infuriated Nazifa Zaki, a former police general and representative from Kabul. She reached under her desk, removed her shoe and hurled it at Ms. Ahmadzai, according to another Parliament member who was there. “Your support is wrong; you may have taken money to support bad people and you are taking the wrong road!” Ms. Zaki shouted.
Ms. Ahmadzai took the only weapon she had to hand — a bottle of water — and threw it at Ms. Zaki, who rushed at her and began punching her; Ms. Ahmadzai managed only one or two punches in return before the two were separated.
By then legislators were swarming around them, still yelling.
The scene might appear to be merely political opera, but the situation has reached a point where it is difficult to see a way out that would be acceptable both to the members of Parliament and Mr. Karzai.
The majority of Parliament members, 200 out of 249, according to Fatima Aziz, a Parliament member from Kunduz, have decided to stick together, putting the president in the position of having to take an extreme step if he wants to force them to comply: either dissolve the Parliament or order their arrest — either of which could turn violent. Senior government officials have unsuccessfully tried to divide the anti-president bloc, according to several Parliament members.
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