Afghan President Hamid Karzai plans to keep most of his ministers favoured by the West in a new cabinet presented to parliament today, a list the government said included efficient and effective figures.
Western diplomats have generally welcomed the list of 23 cabinet nominees, which keeps the heads of the key interior and finance ministries unchanged along with other technocrats.
But some lawmakers and ordinary Afghans who were hoping for change in a government dogged by corruption said Mr Karzai's lineup was a list of recycled names in a lacklustre, indecisive cabinet.
Mr Karzai is under intense pressure from Western leaders who have troops fighting a growing Taliban insurgency to show he is serious about clamping down on corruption. They see the cabinet as the first vital test of his commitment to fighting graft.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anwar Jigdalak presented the list to lawmakers in Kabul, one month after Mr Karzai's re-election was confirmed following an August 20th poll marred by fraud.
With Washington sending 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban while public support for the war wanes, USPresident Barack Obama is keen to show Mr Karzai as a credible and trustworthy partner.
In the first official comment from the West, Canada welcomed Mr Karzai's proposed list, which must be approved by parliament.
"We are pleased to see that the list of candidates includes competent individuals, some of whom we have worked with in the past," ambassador William Crosbie said in a statement.
Canada has 2,800 troops fighting in Afghanistan, mainly in Taliban strongholds in the south.
Mr Karzai did not attend the parliamentary session. Speaker Younus Qanuni said the chamber would meet tomorrow to discuss his nominations.
Reuters