Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would first like to welcome the ambassador.
I am going to speak to you as a friend. I believe that you are a very good ambassador for Afghanistan. I will be asking frank and direct questions. We have available to us a number of sources of information as well as frequent government briefings. That does not prevent us from seeking information elsewhere. I believe that it is important for a good member of Parliament to check other sources of information, whether it be Le monde diplomatique, the Senlis Council, Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International.
My party has always spoken out against the way in which Canada's mission in Afghanistan is structured, and I am referring to the 3D approach. I won't deal with that now because it has been discussed almost to death. What I would like to raise is the issue of governance. I have three questions for you, and I hope they won't be too difficult for you to answer. I think it is important for us to know what is happening.
I have often read and heard that President Karzaï's authority was limited solely to Kabul. People often refer to him as the Mayor of Kabul, meaning that he is incapable of extending his authority beyond that city.
My second question deals with the presence of undesirable elements within Afghanistan's Parliament. I would like you to tell us honestly if drug lords and war lords have been elected to Afghanistan's Parliament, and why they are tolerated. Have they been provided with some type of amnesty or is there another reason for it? This is something that we often hear about.
My third question is a rather sensitive one. It involves the case of Malalai Joya. It seems to us that this female member of Parliament was expelled because the government in power could not easily accept criticism. If that were the case here in Canada, I would probably be one of the first ones to be kicked out. If what she said is true, then why is the government refusing to accept criticism, something that is an important tenet of democracy?