KABUL - The Wolesi Jirga on Saturday approved the provincial council law, but refused authorizing the bodies to oversee affairs of provincial government departments.

The refusal to give provincial councils the right to oversee provincial governments’ affairs comes amid warnings from provincial council candidates and heads to boycott the upcoming elections if they are not authorized to monitor departmental affairs.

Last week, a number of provincial council heads and candidates, who held a gathering in Kabul, warned of boycotting the April elections if they were not authorized to oversee affairs of the provincial government.

The law, containing seven chapters and 41 articles, was presented before the lower house for approval by the assembly’s Commission on Interior Security.

Mirdad Khan Najrabi, the commission’s head, said provincial council chiefs had been insisting they should be authorized to oversee the affairs of provincial government departments.

Article 139 of the constitution does not authorize provincial councils to monitor the affairs of government entities.

The article says the provincial councils, as enshrined in laws, participate in efforts to improve government affairs in provinces and give advices in this regard.

Najrabi said the subject of giving provincial councils an oversight authority had been sent to the Independent Commission on Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution (ICOIC) for interpretation.

He said the ICOIC had said if lawmakers wanted they could authorize provincial council to oversee the affairs of provincial government offices.

“The constitutional oversight commission has said there is no legal problem in this regard,” he said.

But a number of lawmakers opposed giving the provincial councils the authority to monitor the activities of provincial departments.

Nadir Khan Katawazai from southeastern Paktika province believed the move could create problems in provinces.

His colleagues Ghulam Sarwar Fayez, a lawmaker from Badghis, and Sadiq Ahmad Usmani from Parwan, also opposed the idea.

However, they said if the councils were authorized, the limit of their authority should be made known in order to avoid confrontation between officials and public representatives.

In response, Najrabi said officials in provinces did not receive trust votes from the councils to be summoned by them. He said the councils could monitor actions of provincial officials and could refer them to attorney offices like the Meshrano Jirga.

Of 132 MPs present, 112 approved the provincial law, but did not authorize the councils to monitor the affairs of provincial departments.

Provincial council heads have called for their office tenure to be extended from one year to two years.

The Constitution has not determined the period in office of provincial council heads, but they are elected for one year. The lower house did not discuss this issue. The law was approved three years after it being sent to the assembly. (Pajhwok)