Parliament

KABUL (Pajhwok): Central bank chief Khalil Siddique on Tuesday told the Meshrano Jirga or upper house of parliament that the increase in US dollar’s value, the decline in investments and domestic products, insecurity, migration and capital flight were major reasons behind the depreciation of the afghani.
When new Afghan currency was printed in 2002, the afghani protected its value against the US dollar for a long time and at that time one dollar equaled 48 afghanis.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Acting Defence Minister Masoom Stanikzai on Monday said the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the United States has been partially implemented.
He was speaking at a meeting involving lawmakers, security officials and civil society activists on the implementation of BSA here.
Stanikzai said a joint committee of Afghan defense, interior ministries and NATO and the US had discussed the implementation of all items of the agreement in Washington two weeks ago.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some Meshrano Jirga or upper house of parliament members on Sunday insisted on the announcement of parliamentary election schedule and asked the proposed selection commission to commence its work as soon as possible.
Senator Gul Ahmad Azami told today’s session that the delay in holding the elections was tantamount to killing democracy.
He said not conducting elections made people hopeless and if the process was not accelerated, there would be more problems in the country.

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of parliament, on Saturday threw out President Ashraf Ghani’s fifth legislative decree, barring acting officials from performing their duties in security institutions for more than two months.
Earlier, the lower house passed a law that restrained interim officials from heading government departments/institutions for more than two months.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some lawmakers on Wednesday alleged Khalilullah Ferozi, former Chief Executive of Kabul Bank, was released from jail against $7 million in bribe to participate in the inauguration of his township scheme.
They claimed the deal between Ferozi and the government had been brokered by the legal advisor to the president and other officials at the Presidential Palace.

KABUL (Pajhwok): The draft of the national annual budget with a total outlay of 461.8 billion afghanis for the upcoming fiscal year has been sent to the Senate or Mesharano Jirga for approval, the finance minister said on Sunday.
Explaining the draft budget, Eklil Hakimi said the 461.8 billion afs projections showed a percent increase compared to the accounts of the outgoing fiscal year. The new fiscal year starts on Dec. 22, 2015.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Commemorating the 8th anniversary of the 2007 Baghlan sugar factory bombing, Wolesi Jirga members on Saturday asked the government to bring to justice the perpetrators.
The back-to-back blasts killed at least 18 people, including six lawmakers and several children who greeted the parliamentarians visiting the factory in November, 2007.
So far 18 members of the Wolesi Jirga and Meshrano Jirga, the two house of parliament, have been killed in bomb and suicide attacks.

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Afghan government would contact five Indian pharmaceutical companies to purchase high quality medicines from them and would struggle to collect and cure drug addicts in a specific building in Kabul, the Meshrano Jirga was told on Tuesday.
Counternarcotics Minister Salamat Azimi and Deputy Public Health Minister Najia Tariq testified before the Senate after being summoned to provide information to lawmakers about the increasing number of drug addicts and poppy cultivation in the country.

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Wolesi Jirga or lower house of parliament on Monday accused the government of lacking a clear cut policy on Afghan refugees in Europe, summoning the refugee and foreign ministers.
Media reports say President Ghani during a telephonic conversation has asked the German prime minister not to expel Afghan refugees who arrived there through illegal ways, but the German minister responded that the German government did not discuss the issue with the Afghan government.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some Wolesi Jirga members on Monday alleged clearing the interior minister of bad performance during his testimony before the lower house was a result of “a deal behind the scenes.”
Interior Minister Noorul Haq Ulumi provided satisfactory information about the security situation to the Wolesi Jirga. Summoned almost a week ago, the minister fielded a volley of questions about the fall of several districts to the insurgents in recent months.