Afghan leader says working on government reshuffle

KABUL, May 2 (Reuters) Afghan President Hamid Karzai, facing efforts by senior members of his government to curb his powers, today said he was working on a cabinet reshuffle.

First Vice President Ahmad Zia Masood and several current and former cabinet members have formed a political party to push for the creation of a new post of prime minister, who would take some of the powers currently held by Karzai.

''The government as a whole should be reformed. Efforts are under way in this regard,'' Karzai told reporters when pressed for a reaction to the formation of the party and speculation he planned to sack the rebels.

Some pro-Karzai MPs have said the dissidents should leave the government if they want to oppose the president.

The National Front Party, formed last month, wants provincial governors and mayors to be elected, which would remove from the president an important lever of power in a country where central control has often been weak.

The party has not detailed what powers it wanted a prime minister to take from the president.

Party founders include Karzai's adviser on security affairs, Mohammad Qasim Fahim, the head of the lower house of parliament, Yunus Qanuni, and several ex-communist generals in the government.

Karzai did not say which ministers would be affected by changes to the government or if a reshuffle would affect Masood, his most senior deputy president, with whom he campaigned for the presidency in 2004 elections.

Disenchantment with the Western-leaning Karzai is running high because of lack of development since the ousting of the Taliban in 2001.

Rampant corruption and growing violence, despite the presence of nearly 45,000 NATO and US-led troops, has further eroded his standing.

Karzai's election in 2004 in Afghanistan's first direct election for the presidency was hailed as a triumph for democracy after nearly a quarter century of chaos and violence.

As president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Karzai chooses his cabinet, although ministers have to be endorsed by parliament. He also appoints governors and mayors.

Opposition politicians have called for a loya jirga, Afghanistan's traditional grand assembly of tribal chieftains and elders, to amend the constitution.

REUTERS ABM RK1900