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Trust vote for cabinet picks: Ghani set to meet MPs

Trust vote for cabinet picks: Ghani set to meet MPs

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17 Jan 2015 - 11:32
Trust vote for cabinet picks: Ghani set to meet MPs
author avatar
17 Jan 2015 - 11:32

KABUL Administrative Board before ministers-designate seek a trust vote from the lower house, whose session was postponed on Saturday. 

More than three months after being sworn in, the national unity government named the 25-member cabinet last week after missing several deadlines and under pressure from lawmakers, civil society and the general public.

Ghulam Hussain Nasiri, a Wolesi Jirga member from central Maidan Wardak province, said the cabinet picks were to appear before the assembly for a vote of confidence today.

But the session did not take place on schedule, as Administrative Board members planned to meet the president at 11am, the lawmaker said. 

He believed Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah might mount pressure on the board to ensure a trust for vote for the nine cabinet choices with dual nationality.

Last week, the Wolesi Jirga decided not to give a trust vote to ministers-designate dual nationality. Under Article 72 of the constitution, ministers should have only Afghan nationality. But the Wolesi Jirga has the authority to accept or reject them.

Nasiri expected a change in the current list of ministers-designate. And so did a legislator from Kandahar province, Abdur Rahim Ayubi, who claimed some powerful individuals were trying to ensure the inclusion of their choices in the cabinet.

Wolesi Jirga Secretary Irfanullah Irfan confirmed introduction of the ministers-designate had been delayed as Ghani wanted to meet the Administrative Board. He had no information about the agenda.

“If the discussion is about the trust vote for dual-nationality ministers, I don’t think the Jirga will accept it,” he remarked, explaining the assembly wanted to complete the confidence vote process and approve the draft budget before the winter recess.

The draft budget is scheduled to be placed before the Wolesi Jirga on Monday. Based on Article 107, parliamentarians have three months of vacation in the winter and summer.

The winter recess starts on January 21. But Irfanullah hinted the break could be delayed by a week to complete the trust vote process and pass the amended version of the budget.

mds/mud

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