Afghan President Hamid Karzai's main rival, his former Education Minister Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, announced forming his political party Saturday to keep on watching government's activities.

"I have found the party of Afghanistan Naween or New Afghanistan to keep on watch on the government's performance and strengthen democracy and rebuilding process," Qanooni told journalists here at a press conference.

The new party he said was a broad-based national movement that can help the people to check administration's malpractice through parliament.

Qanooni, who contested Karzai in the Oct. 9 presidential election, launched his party just three days after the formation of the new government.

He showed support to the new government saying "it is a good cabinet that included many professionals."

In the meantime he stressed that the new ministers have to get the vote of confidence from the parliament which is likely to come into being next April.

The soft-spoken Tajik politician claimed the stance of an observer who refused Karzai's offer to nominate him as the Defense Minister, a key roll in the administration held by his close ally in the presidential race against Karzai.

"I rejected Karzai's offer to be the Defense Minister as I am not a military man. On the other hand, I could not do politics if I accepted the offer," he noted.

Source: Xinhua