KABUL - MPs in the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) on Monday criticized leaders of the national unity government (NUG) particularly President Ashraf Ghani for certain policy issues, saying Ghani has remained weak in promoting a working policy governance, but hailed Ghani's approach towards dealing with Afghanistan's controversial neighbor Pakistan.
Some MPs however commended the president's foreign policy track – specifically that relating to Pakistan - but said more work has to be done by Ghani to curb corruption and implement systematic reforms in government institutions.
"I cannot support a system whose alphabet is based on plundering, corruption, aggression and land grabbing and also no one can demand such a thing from me," said MP Ramazan Bashardost.
"Corruption, plundering, dysfunctions and war have increased in Afghanistan, and also fatalities among our forces have risen," said MP Abdul Rahim Ayoubi.
"They have 500 advisors in Afghanistan, if the house of representatives does not take legal action in this matter, it means that we (lawmakers) are also involved in the plundering, because they are paid from the money owned by the orphans, widows and families of the fallen soldiers," another MP Ghulam Hussain Naseri said.
MPs also said that sometimes the president does not have control over his words.
"The important thing is that the country's number one person [Ghani] is not acquainted with Islamic principles, particularly when it comes to Namaz (praying). In Afghanistan, 99.9 percent of the people are Muslim. The country's number one person, in fact, represents the entire nation when he participates in an international or regional gathering," said MP Jafar Mahdawi.
"Certainly the president's words, whether they are positive or negative, have implications when reflected in the media, democracy is one of the pillars of the system that serve the people and country," said MP Ghulam Farooq Majroh.
In addition to this, the speaker of the Wolesi Jirga Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi asked Ghani to refer the basic structure of law to parliament for discussion.
"Our defense and security personnel including the people, women and children are sacrificed each day, the president as the top person of the country maintains a lot of responsibilities before us," said Ibrahimi. (Tolonews)