A fghanistan takes a crucial step toward building a viable future this week with the convening of a grand assembly of tribal elders. The Loya Jirga will pick a government that will rule the country until general elections are held. While the conclave has been long anticipated, and is critical to the country's long-term cohesion, its success is by no means assured. The rivalries that have divided Afghanistan for centuries may yet undermine the rebuilding process. This week's meeting was planned last year when representatives of the Afghan factions met in Bonn to plot a post-Taliban order. They then agreed to convene the Loya Jirga after its 1,501 delegates were picked in local elections. Those delegates will choose a head of government, one or more vice presidents and ministers. The transitional authority will write a constitution and prepare for the permanent government that will be elected in two years.

The Bonn agreement stipulates that the Loya Jirga is to be composed of literate, respected Afghans from all regions and ethnic groups. In addition to the 1,051 members chosen by local voters, an additional 450 are to be appointed by a national commission. In an attempt to minimize the influence of the warlords that have done so much damage to Afghanistan in the past, anyone with a violent past is to be excluded. That stipulation has not been honored.

Human rights groups have complained of incidents in which local authorities used threats to influence elections. Eight people have been killed in the delegate selection process, although the commission regulating the process says only one death has political connections; dozens more have been imprisoned. More worrying has been the vote-buying in many districts. Several of the more notorious warlords, in particular those charged with assaulting Kabul after the Soviet retreat, are delegates. Despite these concerns, officials concede that it is better to have the warlords participating in the process than excluded and fighting the new government.