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President Ghani Fired Mohaqiq as Deputy Chief Executive of Gov’t
President Ashraf Ghani in a decree has dismissed Mohammad Mohaqiq second deputy to the Chief Executive of Abdullah Abdullah from his position, Presidential Palace confirmed in a statement on Thursday.
The statement said that Mohaqiq has been dismissed based on article 64 and clause 13 of Afghanistan's constitution.
In reaction, Chief Executive office in a statement said that the move is against the political agreement for the formation of National Unity Government.
The statement added that any unilateral decision in the current situation will lead to weakening the joint cooperation and provoking instability in the country.
The Chief Executive Office in the statement also noted that the National Unity Government was being formed based on an agreement in Kabul after the 2014 election crisis and that will continue until the formation of the new legitimate government and next presidential elections.
It comes as Mohqiq is running for the second deputy in Mohammad Haneef Atmar's ticket during the July presidential elections.
According to the Constitution, any official who runs for elections should resign from the official post; however, there is no clarification about the Chief Executive and his deputies.
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Riyadh committed to expanding bilateral relations with Kabul: Saudi ambassador
Faisal bin Talq al-Buqami, the Saudi Ambassador to Kabul, on Wednesday met with acting Minister of Defense Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid and emphasized Riyadh's commitment to expanding economic, political, and humanitarian cooperation with Afghanistan.
Enayatullah Khwarizm, the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Mujahid described Afghanistan’s relationship with Saudi Arabia as culturally and ideologically shared and inseparable, and expressed appreciation for Riyadh's cooperation in various fields.
According to the statement, Mujahid called the resumption of the Saudi Embassy's activities in Kabul important and significant.
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Stanikzai says media is an essential part of society
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the political deputy foreign minister, says media is an essential need in society.
Speaking at a seminar aimed at improving the capacity of spokespersons from ministries and independent government institutions, Stanikzai emphasized the importance of access to information and the vital role of media in Afghanistan.
"In today's age, media and spokespersons are a significant need for society and the country, and this sector must be strengthened. Spokespersons must be strong and able to withstand any situation. In order to cope with the circumstances, they should strive to have comprehensive information not only about their work environment but also about the country and society,” he said.
Khabib Ghafran, spokesperson for the Ministry of Information and Culture, also addressed the seminar and said: "The main goal of this seminar is to discuss how to improve the capacity of spokespersons in central departments of the Islamic Emirate and how to address the issue of access to information."
Meanwhile, some journalists and organizations supporting journalists are calling for timely and comprehensive information to be made available to them.
Hujatullah Mujaddidi, head of Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association, said: "It is the responsibility of journalistic and media institutions to support the media by enhancing journalists' capacities, improving media literacy and ethics, and working on maintaining neutrality and innovation."
Rohullah Danish, a journalist, stated: "It is necessary that Afghan media receive more support because they play a significant role not only in information publication but also in education and cultural development within society."
After three years, journalists say they are still facing challenges regarding access to information, and that this issue has not been fully resolved.
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Egeland says Donald Trump’s aid pause ‘disastrous’ for Afghanistan
Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending all US foreign assistance programs pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals
The head of a major humanitarian organisation said U.S. President Donald Trump's order to halt foreign aid for 90 days would have immediate and disastrous consequences in Afghanistan where relief operations are already stretched thin.
Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending all US foreign assistance programs pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals.
It was not immediately clear how much assistance would initially be affected by the Monday order as funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress and is obligated to be spent, if not already spent.
The scope of the order was not clear, including whether it applied to Afghanistan's humanitarian funding, which is channelled through NGOs and United Nations agencies.
Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Reuters that the decision had left agencies reeling as they braced for further cuts from the biggest donor to Afghanistan.
"A 90-day suspension of all aid, no new grants, no new transfer of funding, will have disastrous consequences immediately ... for an already starved aid operation for very poor and vulnerable girls and women and civilians in Afghanistan," he said during a video interview from Kabul late on Tuesday.
Afghanistan is home to more than 23 million people requiring humanitarian assistance - more than half the country's population - but aid has shrunk as donors face competing global crises and diplomats raise concerns about the Islamic Emirate’s restrictions on women in most areas of public life, including education and health.
Development funding that formed the backbone of government finances was cut after the IEA took over and foreign forces left in 2021.
Reuters reported last year that non-governmental groups played a critical role in filling the humanitarian void.
"If you go back in time it was a well funded operation, we got development assistance, then we could have perhaps have lived through three months of suspension, we cannot any more," Egeland said.
Trump told a rally shortly before taking office that aid to Afghanistan would be contingent on getting back billions of dollars of military equipment that U.S. forces left behind.
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