Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Whereabouts of Letter to Supreme Court Remains a Mystery

Whereabouts of Letter to Supreme Court Remains a Mystery

KABUL - Media supporting groups on Sunday slammed the Afghan government over its refusal to provide journalists with necessary information regarding a letter reportedly sent by President Ashraf Ghani to the Supreme Court regarding the issue of the seven dismissed ministers.
Ghani reportedly requested the Supreme Court interpret Article 92 of the Constitution following the vote of no confidence by MPs regarding the ministers and their development budget spend.  
This comes after Ghani reportedly sent the letter two months ago – but details surrounding the letter have been vague.
According to media groups, government has basically failed to address questions relating to the letter. These media outlets insist that government has a constitutional obligation to provide information to the media in such instances.
“This is a clear violation of the constitution of Afghanistan by government; the government systematically hides the information and tells the people lies,” said head of NAI Mujib Khelwatgar.
“Our expectations from the Supreme Court is to inform us about their verdict on the issue in line with the constitution so that a decision is made in the light of the court’s verdict,” said deputy spokesman to CEO Omid Maisam.
But, the question being asked is where is the actual letter?
When asked for a copy of the letter, both the presidential palace and the CEO’s office refused to hand it over nor would they show the media the register stating it had been sent to the Supreme Court.
Both offices said Sunday that they were holding copies of the letter and that the administrative office of the president sent the letter to the Supreme Court.
“In a government where after two months every institution denies having received such a letter and (government) is not prepared to give a copy of the letter, this indicates that decisions are made on an individual basis and there is not a system where decisions are made on a system-oriented basis,” said legal expert Tahir Hashimi.
Back in November, the Afghan parliament dismissed seven cabinet ministers over their failure to spend 75 percent of their development budgets - a move that further added to the woes of the National Unity Government (NUG) whose leaders have bickered for months over the issue of filling vacancies and using caretaker ministers. (Tolonews)