As the face-off over the current fiscal year’s budget intensifies, some lawmakers said the Afghan government has begun putting pressure on MPs by removing their relatives from public institutions, calling it such acts “illegal.”
The Parliament has rejected the budget plan two times in less than a month, citing at least 19 reasons behind this decision.
One MP said that the National Directorate of Security has been involved in political tumult and has removed 10 of its employees who are relatives of legislators.
The legislators accused the president, the national security adviser and the head of the Administrative Office of the President of conspiracy and said those illegally removed from jobs included, in the NDS, the brother of Hamida Ahmadzai, the husband of Robina Jalali, Lailuma Wali Hukmi’s husband, and others whose relatives voted against the budget.
“I say to the president to leave this dictatorship,” said Mohammad Khan Ahmadi, an MP from Kabul.
“Mr. Mohib has started from one side, Mr. Fazli from another, the state minister from other side and now the NDS chief has entered the arena while he should do his intelligence activities and should not get involved in the budget,” said Habib-ur-Rahman Pedram, an MP from Herat.
“The people of Afghanistan are insulted; the Afghan Constitution is violated. In this case, MPs have no choice but to stick to article 69 of the Constitution and remove this (imposed) person,” said Ziauddin Zia, an MP from Samangan.
Article 69 of the Constitution says: “The President shall be responsible to the nation as well as the House of People in accordance with the provisions of this Article. Accusations of crimes against humanity, national treason as well as a crime against the President shall be demanded by one third of all members of the House of People. If this demand is approved by two thirds of the House of People, the House of People shall convene the Loya Jirga within one month.”
The parliament speaker Mir Rahman Rahmani called on the government to consider people’s demands in the budget, threatening to prepare the budget and submit it for implementation.
“Balancing the salaries is not Rahmani’s redline; it is the Wolesi Jirga’s redline; therefore, there won’t be any setback in our stance on the parliament’s suggestions (about the budget),” Rahmani said.
“Some individuals have come (from abroad) and are embezzling every day,” said Karim Atal, an MP from Helmand.
The Presidential Palace did not comment on the remarks, but the National Security Council in a message said the MPs’ remarks are not true and that the national security adviser is busy on provincial trips to assess the country’s situation.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Ghani has started a new war and has opened a new frontline against the parliament and the people of Afghanistan, which is neither in favor of the government nor the nation,” said Mahdi Rasikh, an MP from Maidan Wardak.