Parliament

KABUL (Pajhwok): Meshrano Jirga or Senate members on Sunday asked the German government not to deport Afghan migrants as requested by President Ashraf Ghani.
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 minister said the German government did not discuss the issue with the Afghan government.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some Wolesi Jirga members on Saturday criticised the US for not properly equipping Afghan security forces and asked the Afghan government to reconsider its foreign policy.
Sher Wali Wardak, a lawmaker from Kabul province, said: “Earlier Taliban were in the mountains, but now they are in cities. Our security forces lack military equipment specially the air force.”
The lawmaker said the US had miserably failed in eliminating Taliban sanctuaries in Afghanistan and the region.

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Wolesi Jirga on Saturday rejected a fourth legislative presidential decree issued during the lower house of parliament’s summer recess.
Sher Wali Wardak, the deputy head of the house economic committee, presented the presidential decree regarding the establishment of a presidential economic advisor’s office as an independent budgetary unit.
He said based on the decree a new department would be created with 60 staff members, adding that the decree was against the laws and there was no need for such a department.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Meshrano Jirga or upper house of parliament on Tuesday asked Germany to revise its plan to start deporting Afghan refugees.
Earlier, German media reported that Afghan refugees whose asylum seeking applications have been rejected would be sent back home.
Angela Merkel's government hopes to discourage thousands of Afghans who may be on their way to Europe, the German media says.
The Afghan Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation, meanwhile, said the German government was yet to brief the Afghan government over its decision.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Mesharano Jirga on Tuesday appointed a delegation to investigate alleged rape of 35 women prisoners by prosecutors and judges in the western zone of the country.
A recent research conducted by the Rights and Justice Organisation show some women were raped by lawyers and judges in Herat, Farah, Ghor, Badghis and Nimroz provinces.
Senator Abdul Baqi Baryal told the upper house in Tuesday that the government should not behave irresponsibly because it would harm people’s trust over institutions.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Finance Minister Eklil Ahmad Hakimi on Monday ruled out budget deficit and informed the Wolesi Jirga about increase in the country’s revenue and a $2.8 billion aid promised by the international community over the next three years.
The minister was summoned to the lower house to brief lawmakers about development budget spending, the mechanism of revenue collections and other financial issues, but the house members termed Hakim’s explanations as unsatisfactory.

KABUL (Pajhwok): Some Mesharano Jirga or Senate members on Sunday criticised Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for asking the Afghan government to review its policy about the neighbouring country.
Speaking in Washington on Friday, a day after talks with US President Barack Obama, Nawaz had said that Pakistan was ready to help Afghanistan revive peace talks with Taliban rebels.

KABUL (Pajhwok): A number of Meshrano Jirga members on Sunday renewed their call for the government leaders to set a specific date for Wolesi Jirga and district council elections.
The legislators also demanded continued clearing operations in northeastern Kunduz province to keep it from being overrun by the Taliban yet again.
According to Article 83 of the constitution, members of the Wolesi Jirga shall be elected by the people through free, general, secret and direct balloting.

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Afghanistan Governors’ Association on Thursday described the country’s situation as shocking, demanding a Loya Jirga to be convened to specify dates for holding parliamentary and district council elections.
Comprised of 65 former, 15 current governors and some ministers, the association said the prevailing situation in the country was choking up the nation and it was necessary to take some positive steps.

MAIDAN SHAHR (Pajhwok): Officials in central Maidan Wardak province on Thursday alleged some Wolesi Jirga members were assisting the Taliban in their propaganda war.
They told a press conference here the Taliban had been planning in recent weeks to carry out suicide and other terrorist attacks in the provincial capital, Maidan Shahr, and some districts.
They claimed some members of the lower house assisted the insurgents in their propaganda war.