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MPs accuse govt of breaking the law by using acting ministers
Lawmakers on Saturday cried foul and accused government of violating the Constitution after allowing four nominated ministers and the nominated head of the Central Bank to continue in acting ministerial positions despite having lost their votes of confidence in parliament.
MPs in the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) said government’s failure to remove the acting ministers was illegal and that it was obliged to nominate new ministers so as to legitimize the cabinet.
The MPs called on President Ashraf Ghani to remove the acting ministers and resolve the issue.
They said government has previously violated the law as it has in the past also failed to nominate new ministers for parliament to approve.
Last month, the four nominees that were vetoed by parliament were the acting ministers for education, rural development, information and culture, and women’s affairs, and the head of the central bank.
“Any function of the candidates are against the law, and the parliament has repeatedly called for new faces, but the president does not respect the law and does not fulfill his legal responsibilities to nominate new ministers, and the new minister must be nominated to parliament, to legislate the cabinet,” said Nazir Ahmad Hanafi, a parliament member.
“The government must fulfill its legal obligations and introduce new faces instead of the candidates for ministers who have been rejected by this parliament, so that we can legislate the government,” said Sharifi Balkhabi, another parliament member.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs says it is working on the issue and plans to nominate candidates for the ministries before MPs break for their winter recess.
“The government is determined to nominate new ministers before the winter break, in the House of Representatives, to complete the cabinet,” said Sayed Ali Kazimi, deputy at the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
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Iran, Pakistan leaders raise concerns over ‘terrorist groups’ in Afghanistan
Following a two-day official visit to Pakistan, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a joint statement emphasizing the need to further expand commercial and economic cooperation and transform the common border of the two countries from a “border of peace” to “border of prosperity”.
The two leaders also strongly condemned aggressions and crimes of Israel in Gaza, and demanded an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as well as unimpeded humanitarian access to the besieged people of Gaza.
Numerous other issues were also discussed but on the topic of Afghanistan, they jointly declared their commitment to the development of Afghanistan as a peaceful, united, independent country free from the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking.
According to the statement the two countries pointed out that the existence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan is a serious threat to the security of the region and the world.
The two sides stressed their desire to strengthen cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism and ensuring security and creating a united front against terrorism.
They also discussed the importance of coordinating regional and international efforts to ensure security and stability in the region.
“While respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, the two sides recognized that increasing participation of all strata of Afghans in basic decision-making will lead to the strengthening of peace and stability in this country,” the statement read.
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Over 1,000 Afghan refugees forced out of Pakistan in one day
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR) says over 1,000 Afghan migrants were forcibly returned from Pakistan on Tuesday through Spin Boldak border crossing in Kandahar province, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry stated that based on information provided by the Spin Boldak Kandahar border command, these returnees comprised 191 families, totalling 998 people.
In addition, three migrants released from Pakistani prisons were also returned, according to the statement.
The statement added that after registering the returnees, the refugees were referred to the offices of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Each family received 10,000 afghanis – paid to them by the Islamic Emirate.
In another statement, the ministry said that 2,783 migrants living in Iran voluntarily and forcibly returned to the country during this week.
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Afghanistan’s minister of transport and aviation attends regional meeting in Uzbekistan
Hamidullah Akhundzadeh, acting Minister of Transport and Aviation, headed a delegation to Uzbekistan for a ‘Six-Party Corridor’ meeting that included representatives from Afghanistan, Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
On the sidelines of this meeting the Afghanistan delegation discussed trade through the corridor with the other five relevant countries.
According to the ministry of transport and aviation, Akhundzadeh met with the deputy ministers of transport of Russia and Belarus.
He also discussed ways to expand transit between Afghanistan and Russia; and Afghanistan and Belarus, and provide the necessary facilities to achieve this.
The ministry added that the acting minister had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Transport and the Special Representative of the President of Uzbekistan on Afghanistan and discussed the expansion of road transport between the two countries.
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