Afghan presidential hopeful vows to create PM post

By Golnar Motevalli

KABUL, May 31 (Reuters) - Afghan presidential hopeful and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah said he would revise Afghanistan's constitution to install a prime minister and boost the powers of parliament if he wins elections in August.

Abdullah is running against incumbent President Hamid Karzai, whose position as clear frontrunner before the Aug. 20 vote was further boosted on Sunday when two key opposition groups pledged to back him.

Abdullah, who was a close adviser to assassinated and widely revered Afghan Commander Ahmed Shah Masood, said the political system was ripe for a complete overhaul.

The current system concentrates power in the office of the president, and because parliament is relatively weak there are few avenues to challenge corrupt or incompetent officials, he told Reuters in an interview.

"The highly centralised system is not accountable to the people ... so what we are opting and hoping for is to change the constitution and go for a parliamentary system," Abdullah said.

Asked if this meant he would endorse the creation of a prime minister if he won the presidency, Abdullah said: "Yes...a prime ministerial system."

"The people are stuck with governors who are being moved from one province to another when they fail and then to the next and finally if there are no more excuses to keep them as governors, they will be promoted as minister-advisers," he added.

U.S. authorities have urged Karzai to create a new executive post to help improve day-to-day governance in Afghanistan, but the president "has made no decision on it", his chief spokesman Humayoun Hamidzada said earlier this month.