Big news no coverage

Kabul-based foreign journalists have missed a very important issue which has been taking place over the past three days!

It seems the world’s top TV channels, newspapers and online outlets are deliberately overlooking the ongoing strike at the Wolesi Jirga (lower house of the National Assembly) because reporting it could offend Karzai. Mr. Karzai was reassured in Washington last week that he would have a lapdog media.

The MPs are on a democratic strike against Karzai’s prolonged failure to introduce nominees for 11 ministries. Karzai has appointed the very same individuals as “care-taking ministers” who were rejected by Wolesi Jirga. According to a law recently adopted by the parliament ‘a care-taker minister can only work for no more than a month’ but the Karzai Argg does not buy the law.

Almost seven months have gone by since Karzai re-inaugurated himself but half of his cabinet is throng with ‘care-takers’.

A Taliban suicide attack usually makes breaking news and headlines unwittingly feeding dangerous propaganda. However, democracy and big democratic events hardly reach to editors’ desks in London and New York.

The problem is with this approach the Taliban are our news-makers and opinion-dividers.