Afghan cabinet vote delayed to late Feb

KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan parliament prolonged months of political uncertainty on Sunday by shutting for its winter recess without waiting for President Hamid Karzai to fill nearly half of his cabinet.
The announcement means Karzai will appear at an international conference on his countrys future on Jan 28 with 11 of 25 cabinet seats vacant.
Before breaking, lawmakers also demanded reforms for parliamentary elections due this year, setting the country back on a path towards political confrontation after the botched presidential poll last year.
Parliament spokesman Haseeb Noori said lawmakers would now break until February 20. Karzai ordered them to delay their leave earlier this month to allow him to pick new names after the bulk were rejected, but this time he did not forbid them to go.
Karzais spokesman, Waheed Omer, said the President would nominate new candidates for the vacant seats when lawmakers return. Until then, Karzai would direct deputy ministers or other caretaker figures to run their ministries, Omer said.
Omer said Karzai had told visiting US envoy Richard Holbrooke on Saturday that the parliamentary election must be held on time on May 22 this year, a date many Western officials fear is too soon to enact needed reforms in time.
Parliamentarians backed the May 22 election date in their final debate on Sunday but called for reforms to the election commission, which Karzais opponents blame for fraud.
They said the poll must be fair and transparent and for that there should be changes in the election commission, for it is under question, said MP Mir Ahmad Joyenda.
Delegates said the heads of the lower and upper house of the parliament along with the chief justice should consult on this with the president.
Holbrooke told Reuters that Washington and its allies supported holding the election sometime this year:
The exact date is far less important than the fact that international community has come together and coalesced together around a date in this calendar year. Weve crossed that bridge.