Lawmakers in Afghanistan’s parliament on Friday lashed out at the National Unity Government under President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah for not being able to end the “caretaking trend” in the government institutions which requires appointing full-fledged leaders.
The lawmakers argue that five years after the formation of the National Unity Government, still about 20 ministries and directorates are being headed by “acting ministers” and “acting directors.”
They said that the caretaking issue has been impacting the accountability process and governance.
“There are ministers who have worked as a caretaker for the past four years–we also raised this issue in our meeting with the president and asked him to instate ministers,” said Khan Agha Rezayee, a lawmaker.
“We should find a way to make the ministers be accountable before the government,” said Gul Rahman Hamdard, a lawmaker.
“The current ministers are neither accountable before the people nor to parliament,” said Abdul Rahman Wardak, a lawmaker.
Meanwhile, legal experts have said that ongoing disagreements between government leaders and the absence of an active parliament and political and electoral consensus is the only factor behind the caretaking trend.
“The principle of balance of power is based on the interaction and close cooperation between three branches of the government that is carried out in consideration of the national interests and the national interest is the basic principle of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” said Latif Mahmoud, deputy presidential spokesman.
Currently, the ministries of mines and petroleum, information and culture, education, finance, energy and water, industry and commerce, defense and the ministry of interior are run by caretakers, including ten directorates.
