Dissension in Parliament torpedoed efforts by lawmakers to force ministers to be accountable. An exclusive report by Esmatullah Mayar.
Eleven ministers who were facing impeachment in Parliament have been let off the hook.
Eleven ministers who were facing impeachment in Parliament have been let off the hook.
On Dec 3, Energy and Water Minister Ismail Khan won a confidence vote in Parliament. Only 32 of the 174 MPs voted to probe his failure to implement development projects in some parts of the country including the construction and reconstruction of hydroelectric projects. According to his ministry, 49 percent of the development funds have not been spent.
Last year in August, then defence and interior affairs ministers, Abdul Rahim Wardak and Bismullah Khan Mohammadi lost trust votes in Parliament over what lawmakers said was the government’s weak response to cross-border attacks in eastern Afghanistan. Article 19 of the constitution gives parliament the right to disqualify ministers.
While General Wardak did not re-enter the Council of Ministers, Bismullah was re-appointed the minister of defence by President Karzai, and secured parliamentary approval for his new job a month later on Sep 15.
On Jan 14, seven ministers who were to be impeached had presented themselves in Parliament.
Speaker Abdul Rauf Ebrahimi said the ministers of defence, interior affairs and city development were not issued summons under article 77 of the constitution since they were not in these positions last year.
However, 20 lawmakers, citing article 92, said Parliament has the right to summon any minister.
For and against
Kamal Nasir Osuli, representative of Khost province in the Wolesi Jirga said it would be wrong for Parliament to hold a newly-appointed minister responsible. “If someone perpetrates a murder, you cannot summon someone else who is not involved at all,” he said.
Also, Nazir Ahmad Hanafi, MP from Herat, said: “See, how can you call a person a culprit who is not involved in the crime!”
Among those who thought all ministers should be summoned without exception is Qudratullah Zaki, MP from Takhar.”When we were deciding about summoning ministers, we decided to summon all 11. Not just sevenministers.”
With no breakthrough in the deadlock, speaker Ebrahimi has said a further interpretation of articles 77 and 92 would be requested from the Independent Commission for Supervision of the Implementation of the Constitution.
Earlier some members of parliament had expressed fears that the ministers would seek to influence the vote of confidence by “contacting” MPs. The manner in which Minister Ismail Khan won the trust vote in parliament continues to rankle.
Gul Pacha Majidi, MP from Khost, said: “This has happened in the past as well. We expect in future too some of the ministers (will) contact the MPs before the impeachment. They send mediations, give privileges to MPs to avoid a decision against them.”
Ghulam Jailinai Zwak of Afghan Counsultancy Jirgasaid: “The rivalries among the MPs and interference of government have prevented the impeachment of the ministers.”
The next day two MPs came to blows over the issue in parliament. Farhad Majidi, MP from Herat and Nayeem Lalai, the representative from Kandahar, had to be separated by other members of the Wolesi Jirga. “I was thinking the issue of impeachment was not important. Rather the issue of the budget must be discussed by MPs,” Majidi said in defence. An agitated Lalai accused his fellow parliamentarian of trying to “sabotage the session and ignore the issue of impeachment”.
Political analyst Dr Faiz Mohammad Zalandsaid most MPs are not committed to their political responsibilities. “In the case of impeachment of Ismail Khan the Afghan nation was thinking he would be disqualified but he got more votes than expected,” he added.
