Political commentators and a number of lawmakers in Afghanistan’s Wolesi Jirga—the lower house of parliament--on Wednesday said they see political motives behind the recent reshuffling in the security sector.
Referring to a recent statement by President Ashraf Ghani about early elections, they said that Ghani has installed his own circles within the country’s security institutions, including the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior and the National Directorate of Security (NDS).
Lawmakers said that the politicization of the security institutions will have serious implications for Afghanistan’s security landscape.
However, the Afghan government has defended its move on the reshuffling, saying the change and reshuffling were aimed to improve the work and bring reform to the security sphere.
On March 10, President Ashraf Ghani appointed former Helmand governor Hayatullah Hayat as acting minister of interior and Chief of Army Staff Gen. Yasin Zia as acting minister of defense.
Before Hayat, Massoud Andarabi was serving as Minister of Interior.
Andarabi had obtained a vote of confidence from the parliament.
“Explanations were not provided to the public about the recent dismissal at the Ministry of Interior,” said Shah Gul Rezayee, an MP.
“Someone is appointed and then fired within two or three days and is replaced by a new one, it is against the principle and the law,” said military analyst Atiqullah Amarkhel.
“This indicates that appointments are not carried out based on merit,” said MP Mir Haidar Afzali.
“In the view of the current situations, the president is hasty, and he wants to have direct access to the security institutions,” said MP Mahdi Rasekh.
Meanwhile, a number of citizens have said that the security situation has not changed despite the government’s claims of reforms in the security sector.
“The president has made the appointments based on the need to improve the situation, there are no political motives behind it,” said Dawa Khan Menapal, a deputy presidential spokesman.
Based on the political agreement signed between Ghani and his election rival Abdullah Abdullah, the Ministry of Interior was under the authority of Abdullah Abdullah.
Abdullah at the time described the decision to fire Andarabi as irresponsible and without reason.
There are reports that discussions are underway to hand over another key ministry to Abdullah’s allies.