Afghanistan’s National Assembly, composed of two houses – the lower house of representatives called the Wolesi Jirga and the upper house of senators called the Meshrano Jirga – has not resumed activities following the collapse of the former government on August 15. The fate of the assembly remains unknown, said Fazl Hadi Muslimyar, the speaker of the senate. 

Muslimyar said there have been no documents released so far about the dissolution of the National Assembly, and neither house has held a meeting since.

Muslimyar said, however, that the world countries’ parliaments in a joint meeting on September 6th in Austria announced their readiness to work with the current parliament of Afghanistan, and he said the current parliament will continue working with the world’s parliaments until a new parliament is formed.

“Until a new parliament is formed, this parliament will continue working with the world countries’ parliaments. The information I obtained confirms that this is the decision of the world countries’ parliaments,” he said.

Meanwhile, a number of parliament members who are in Afghanistan said most of the MPs have left the country and the Taliban’s position toward the National Assembly and the MPs who have left the country is not clear. “A small number of MPs are in the country and the rest have left Afghanistan. Still, it is not clear what decision will be made about those left in the country. If the Taliban makes any decision about those who remained in Afghanistan, what will the decision be about those who have left? These issues are not clear,” said Sayed Ahmad Silab, an MP.

The Taliban said that in the new government the structure of the National Assembly will change. They did not offer further details but said that a council of religious scholars might be the ultimate authority in the country.

“In an Islamic system, the base of governance and the system is the Quran, the Prophet’s instructions and then (the decision makers) are the Ulema Council. The Ulema will hold meetings on governance and the Emir and people below him will be informed (about the decisions) and they will carry out the activities,” said Shahab Lewal, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission.

Afghanistan’s lower house has 250 members and the senate has 102, while the lower house members are elected by the people, some senate members are elected and others are appointed by the president.