Parliament

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some Wolesi Jirga or lower house members on Monday urged the government to expose what a veteran former jihadi leader called “fifth pillar” of the government working to weaken the state.
Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf had recently said that leaders of some terrorist groups in the country were in Kabul.
Sayyaf was addressing a gathering marking the fourth death anniversary of Burhanuddin Rabbani, former president and head of the High Peace Council.
“Unless we remove the enemy from under our noses, we can’t defeat them on the battlefield,” he had said.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Senate chairman Fazal Hadi Muslimyar on Sunday asked the government to resume and accelerate the stalled peace process.
Addressing a ceremony marking the fourth death anniversary of former president and chairman of the High Peace Council, Burhanuddin Rabbani, in Kabul Muslimyar said the young generation was fighting in different parts of the country, but the government was paying no attention to them.

PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): The signing of an agreement with militantsin northern Baghlanprovince means giving them more value and importance, Wolesi Jirga members said on Saturday. The MPs decided to summon the minister of border and tribal affairs after Eid.
Under a memorandum of understanding, the government handed over the Dand-i-Ghori area of Pul-i-Khumri, the provincial capital, public representatives recently claimed.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some Wolesi Jirga (WJ) members on Wednesday termed as incomplete the Election Reform Commission (ERC)’s suggestions to overhaul the country’s electoral system.
Speaking at today’s session, they said the government should launch issuing the computerized identity cards for the sake of transparent future elections.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some lawmakers on Wednesday demanded police chief and deputy police chief of southern Ghazni province be sacked due to negligence in preventing a major jailbreak.
In a brazen attack on the Ghazni prison three days back, more than 355 inmates escaped. Four policemen and four of the assailants were killed in the incident. As many as 148 inmates were accused of crimes against national security.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Mesharano Jirga members on Tuesday expressed their deep concern over the Afghan youth joining the refugee stream to Europe and asked the government to generate jobs for them.
Reports say the number of Afghan youth seeking migration to foreign countries has considerably increased during the past three months.
There are no exact figures for the Afghans who had already left, but Senator Jumadin Gyanwal said hundreds of people could be seen standing in front of the passport office on a daily basis.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Wolesi Jirga members on Monday asked the government to stop recruiting people in public sector departments on the basis of nepotism and personal relations.
A lower house member from western Herat province, Munawwar Shah Bahadari, said there were some people appointed against merit on the basis of personnel connections.

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Wolesi Jirga on Monday lambasted the Ministry of Interior (MoI) over a brazen Taliban attack on a prison in southern Ghazni province, suggesting the minister be summoned to the lower house.
At least 436 prisoners ran away as a result of the overnight attack in Ghazni City, the provincial capital. Deputy police chief, Asadullah Insafi confirmed the attack to Pajhwok Afghan News, but gave no more details.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Meshrano Jirga chairman Fazl Hadi Muslimyar on Sunday said if the government provided one-third of the facilities that Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum had in the north, elders in the east would eliminate all insurgents.
First Vice-President Dostum has been leading military operations against insurgents in northern provinces, where some areas have been cleared of the rebels.

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Meshrano Jirga chairman and some members on Sunday blasted government’s policies towards Pakistan and asked the President Ashraf Ghani administration to sever political and economic ties with the neighboring country.
They said the conflict and insurgent attacks had risen recently, blaming Pakistan for the uptick in violence.
Senator Nader Baloch from Nimroz province said: “For how long should we stay quiet? A stern decision should be taken against Pakistan’s interference.”