KABUL (Pajhwok): Many experts say 67 pieces of legislation are awaiting approval from the lower house of parliament which was to be inaugurated on March 7 as per the law.
The Wolesi Jirga elections were held on October 20, 21, 2018 in 32 provinces and a week later in southern Kandahar province. The polls in southern Ghazni province are scheduled to be held together with the presidential election in 2019.
According to the law, the 17th legislative term of the parliament had to be inaugurated by the president on March 7, but the Presidential Palace said the 17th legislative term of the parliament would be inaugurated after the announcement of final Wolesi Jirga election results.
Rahimullah Ghalib, deputy secretary of the Wolesi Jirga, told Pajhwok Afghan News that 43 legislative decrees, 14 laws and eight international accords had reached the lower house for approval since January 1.
He said two draft laws were referred to the parliament after the winter recess. After inauguration of the parliament, the mentioned documents would be added to the Wolesi Jirga’s agenda, he said.
On the other hand, the postponement in inauguration of the parliament was criticized.
Erfanullah Erfan, former Wolesi Jirga member, said that the government leaders had totally ignored and paralyzed the parliament for the sake of their personal interests. “This ignorance of the government is against the law.”
He said not only determining the fate of pending legislative documents but other activities such as monitoring the performance of the government and the parliament’s stance on important national issues was also vital and it should start functioning soon.
“A paralyzed parliament is not in the interest of people and the government and the government is responsible to inaugurate the parliament as soon as possible,” he said.
“Delaying parliament’s activities further is not rational because it has left the fate of dozens of pieces of legislation unknown”, he said.
“We have several times shared our concerns about the parliament’s idleness with the government, but the government always says it should be inaugurated after the final results of the Wolesi Jirga elections,” Efran said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Kabir Ranjar, a legal expert, said, “Our system is democratic and the parliament which is one of the pillars of the government if paralyzed, it is a violation of the law and would push us into chaos.”
He stressed all pillars of the government should be independent and the parliament should no longer be left dysfunctional and former members of the lower house should continue their work until new members were sworn in.
mds/ma

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