Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
October-September
Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Activities of Wolesi Jirga Plenary Sessions 4 2. The Most Positive Development 5 3. Issues of the Month 6 Lefgislative Documents 6 Disagreement of Some MPs on the Amendment of the Media Law 6 Wolesi Jirga Reviews the Draft-Law on Provincial Councils 7 Lack of Coordination among Related Entities in Codifying the Draft Law on Tobacco 9 Economical Issues 10 Reconstruction of the Devastated Regions of Surobi District of Kabul Province Started 10 Lack of Control over the Travel Agencies has Caused an Increase in the Price of Tickets 11 Security Issues 12 New Security Plan for Maintaining Security of Highways 12 Wolesi Jirga questioned Ministers of Interior Affairs and National Defense 13 Increase of Security threats to MPs 14 Reviewing People Problems 15 Reviewing Provincial Reports in the Plenary Sessions 15 Dissatisfaction of citizens from the acquisition process of their lands 16 Education and Sports 17 Wolesi Jirga Appreciated Championship of National Football Team 17 The Allocated Money for the Football Federation shouldn’t be paid from the Budget of Olympic Committee 20 Oversight the Performance of Government 20 The Independent Election Commission announced it s Readiness to Conduct the Upcoming Presidential and Provincial Council elections 20 Questioning Minister of Mines to present information on incident of Samangan mine 22 Wolesi Jirga Disclosed Names of Land Usurpers 23 Vote of Confidence of Wolesi Jirga to the Government Officials 24 The Finance and Budget Committee is reviewing the 2012 Qatia report 26 4. Parliamentary Hearing: 27 5. Parliementary Questioning: 28 .6 Legislative Report 29 Accountability Session of MPs to People of Kondoz 30 Acountability Session of MPs to the People of Herat Province 36
7. Five Question with two MPs 41
8. About FEFA: 44
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
Monitoring of the work of the Parliament for the purpose of informing citizens and promoting cooperation between the parliament and civil society is an effort that FEFA believes contributes to the development of the political system of Afghanistan and strengthens the highest representative institution of the country, the Parliament.
To this end, FEFA has started a program to observe the work of the Wolesi Jirga and provide reporting and analysis that would help this institution to expand and FIGURE 1FEFA'S EMPLOYEES advance its work. Collecting information on the work of the Parliament and disseminating it to the people and electorate of Afghanistan will promote this institution and has the potential to build closer links between the elected and the electorate.
FEFA will remain impartial and neutral throughout its work, in particular in its observation and reporting, and will adopt a code of conduct for its observers and analysts, as well as with full preparation to successfully implement this initiative in conjunction with Wolesi Jirga.
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
1. Activities of Wolesi Jirga’s Plenary Sessions Plenary sessions are the general meetings where all the representatives of the people in Wolesi Jirga discuss issues and approve laws to improve the life of citizens and build the legal framework of Afghanistan.FEFA has monitored these sessions and the table below will present the number of meetings held and the level of participation of MPs in the plenary sessions. September
Plenary Sessions Number of General Women Sessions Participation Participation
Regular 7 58 % 45 % Questioning 2 40% 41% Vote of Confidence 1 50% 66%
Total 10
Parliamentary Monitoring Number of Rate of Participation Sessions
The Committee on Legislation Affairs 2 The Committee on Women Affairs, Civil Society 5 60% The Committee on Hearing Complaints and Petitions 6 52% The Telecommunication Committee 2 56 % The Committee on Sports, Health, Youth and Workers 2 30 % The Finance, Budget, Public Accounting and Baking Affairs 1 23% Committee Total 18
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
October Plenary Sessions Number of General Women Sessions Participation Participation
Regular 4 37 % 40 % Questioning 1 31% 33% Hearing 2 41% 52% Vote of Confidence 1 38% 55%
Total 8
Parliamentary Monitoring Number of Rate of Participation Sessions
The Committee on Legislation Affairs 4 The Committee on Women Affairs, Civil Society 4 55% The Committee on Hearing Complaints and Petitions 3 47% The Telecommunication Committee 3 56 % The Committee on Sports, Health, Youth and Workers 1 13 % The Finance, Budget, Public Accounting and Baking Affairs 4 60% Committee Total 19
2. The Most Positive Development After summer recess reviewing people problems was in top agenda of Wolesi Jirga. During the summer recess MPs went to their provinces to visit people and note the problems. After the summer recess overed MPs present their reports to the plenary session of Wolesi Jirga and administrative board of Wolesi Jirga promised to share the problems with the related government institutions. Appreciating the national football team can decelop sport in the country and encourage athlets for more efforts. Summoning the related government officials to present information about reconstruction of devastated regions of Surubi district of Kabul, questioning executive officials to review the reason that
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
why the price of airplane ticket is increased, reviewing the reasons of insecurity in highways and reviewing the mines problems are considered other positive developments of the month.
3. Issues of the Month
Lefgislative Documents
Disagreement of Some MPs on the Amendment of the Media Law Some MPs and CSOs disagreed with the approving of suggested amendments of Ministry of Information and Culture on Media Law. Wolesi Jirga conducted a session on August 28, 2013 chaired by Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi speaker of the house where 126 MPs (126 out of 249MPs) attended to discuss and approve three amended articles of media law (articles 42, 43 and 44).
The National Assembly of Afghanistan approved the media law in 2009. According to the media law, the Media Commission1 is responsible for handling the media violations. The recent amendments made by Ministry of Information and Culture in article 44 of this law says beside the Media Commission the Media Complaints Commission chair by Minister of Information and Culture have competency to handle the media violations. Mohammad Ali Akhlaqy the deputy of the Commission on Religious Affairs, Cultural, Education and Higher Education of Wolesi Jirga presented the amended articles of the law and the administrative board of Wolesi Jirga put it in a vote that as a result MPs approved it with 117 votes pro and 9 votes against. The deputy of Cultural Commission of Wolesi Jirga said, if Minister of Information and Culture be chair of the Media Complaints Commission then the commission is accountable to Wolesi Jirga and representatives of people can oversight the activities of this commission. Subsequently, a number of MPs said Minister of Information and Culture should not be chair of the Media Complaints Commissions. They added if Minister of Informaiton and Culture be chair of the Media Complaints Commission it paves the ground for government to rule the commission and set more
1 According to the Law on Media, the Media Commission is composed of 7 members who are elected among professional people. A responisblity of Media Commission is handling the media complaints. 6 |
Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
limitations on independent media. It is worth mentioning that Minister of Information and Culture had also complained on unlimited competencies of Media Commissions. An MP of Kabul (Ramazan Bashardost) said “head of the Media Complaints Commision must be elected among its members”. He added selection of Minister of Information and Culture as head of the Media Complaints Commission is not fair and will have negative impacts on performance of commission. Another MP (Naqibullah Fayeq) also disagreed with the legislature and said if Minister of Information and Culture is selected as head of the commission the commission will be changed to a government commission and will set limitations on independent media. The amendments faced criticisms of CSOs too. NAI, a proponent of independent media in Afghanistan held a press conference on August 29, 2013 and criticized on recent decision of Wolesi Jirga and urged them to revise their decision. According to the remarks of Mujib Khelwatgar (executive director of NAI) there are a lot of cases and complaints on independent Media that are not dependent to prominent or political figures. He added if government influence in Media Complaints Commission then limitations on independent media will increase. He said, according to Media Law approved in 2009 the Media Complaints Commission must be established soon to take the responsibilities of handling the media violations.
Wolesi Jirga Reviews the Draft-Law on Provincial Councils According to the constitution of Afghanistan, administration of the country is divided into two parts central and local. Ministries are considered units of the central administration and provinces are considered administration of local units. Provincial councils are composed of representatives of a province therefore they are considered a part of local structure. Taking part in implementation of development programs and giving consultations to the local executive bodies are main duties of provincial councils. The draft-law on provincial councils is codified in 7 chapter and 41 articles to set up the duties, responsibilities and activities of provincial councils and to specify the relationship of provincial councils with government offices, district councils, village councils and people.
It is worth mentioning that the standing committee for reviewing this draft law is the Committee on Internal Security, Borders and National Security which has amended some articles of this draft and sent to other committees of Wolesi Jirga for approval.
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
Reviewing of the DraftLaw on Provincial Counsels in the Women Affairs Committee The Committee on Women Affairs conducted a session on September 17,2013 chaired by Aziza Jalis where 6 members of the committee attended to review the draft-law on provincial counsels. The Committee agreed with the amendment of the Internal Security Committee and said members of Administrative board of provincial councils (speaker, deputy and secretary) should be elected for one year to prevent office misuse. Members of committee also made decision that if members of provincial counsels cannot elect their speaker in first round of election then they should elect their speaker through sortition. Ghulam Sarwar Fayez, secretary of the committee said, “The overseeing role of the provincial counsel is very limited therefore the competencies and responsibilities of provincial counsels should be increased.” He added that the government must consult with the provincial counsels on budget of country to get their views.
According to the decision of the National Assembly the Indpependent Directorate of Local Governence is promoted to Ministry of Local Governance therefore members of committee suggested to add name of Ministry of Local Governance instead of Directorate of Local Governance in the draft law. In section of duties and responsibilities of provincial counsels Kobra Mustafawee and Sarwar Fayez said that head of provincial counsels must have less role in preparing agenda of the counsels to prevent intervention. The committee on Women Affairs conducted its next session on September 22, 2013 chaired by Fawzia Kofi to review the remained articles of the draft law. the draft law says, “ if there is any complaints against head and members of provincial counsel a special committee is established to review the complaints and decided whether to refer the case to judicial entities or not.”
At the same time some members of committee (Fawzia Kofi, Ghulam Sarwar Fayez and Aziz Jalis) said, “according to the constitution of Afghanistan if any members of provincial counsel commit a crime they should be prosecuted and shouldn’t have judicial immunity.” Other members of committee agreed on the suggestion and sent it to the Internal Security Committee as an amendment made by the Women Affairs Committee.
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
Reviwing the Draft-Law on Provincial Counsel in the Legislative Committee: The Committee on Legislation Affairs of Wolesi Jirga conducted two sessions on September 22, 2013 and September 29, 2013 chaired by Qazi Nazer Ahmad Anafi to review the draft-law on Provincial Counsels. The committee reviewed the draft-law and sent its amendments to the Internal Security Committee of Wolesi Jirga. Members of the committee said electing the head of the provincial counsels for 4 years is against article 72 of the constitution and added that head and other members of administrative board of the provincial counsel should be elected for one year. Members of the committee agreed with the amendment of the Internal Security Committee and said head and members of administrative board of provincial counsels should be elected for one year not for four years. The committee also said that paragraph 7 of articles 9 of the draft-law on provincial counsel which says, “Head of provincial counsel is authorized to oversight legal performance of related government offices.” is against article 139 of the constitution and added oversight is duty of Wolesi Jirga not provincial counsels.
Lack of Coordination among Related Entities in Codifying the Draft Law on Tobacco Lack of coordination among related entities in codifying the draft law on Tobacco caused revision of this draft-law. The Tobacco draft-law was codified in 5 chapters and 25 articles to regulate affairs related to control, produce and usage of tobacco in the country. The draft-law was introduced to Wolesi Jirga for review and approval.
The Legislative Committee of Wolesi Jirga conducted a session on October 8, 2013 where the representative of Ministry of Justice (Mohammad Kabir) and the Coordination and Policy Deputy Minister of Justice (Haroon Alrashid Sherzad) attended the session to review the draft-law but due to lack of coordination with Ministry of Anti-Narcotic and existence of a series of problems in the articles of the draft debate on the draft-law was postponed to next session. At the beginning of session, Qazi Nazer Ahmad Anafi pointed to some inconsistency in articles of the draft and said,” first paragraph of article two of the draft emphasizes on paving the ground for banning
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
usage of tobacco products in the country however other articles of the draft emphasizes on decreasing the usage of tobacco and criteria for giving certificate of activation for producing tobacco.” Subsequently, representative of Ministry of Justice presented information about the mentioned draft-law and accepted existence of inconsistency in some articles of the draft-law. The policy deputy Minister of Anti-Narcotic said that they were unaware of the draft-law and added that this draft-law is prepared without consulting with their Ministry. He said, Ministries of Justice, Anti-Narcotic and Public Health must work jointly on the draft-law and share their comments with the Legislative Committee of Wolesi Jirga. At the end of the session head of the committee decided to give enough time for the representatives of Ministry of Justice, Health and Anti-Narcotic to accurately review the articles of the draft therefore he postponed revision of the draft to the November9, 2013 session.
Economical Issues
Reconstruction of the Devastated Regions of Surobi District of Kabul Province Started The recent floods in Surobi district of Kabul province devastated civil and agricultural lands and gardens. The responsible entities surveyed the region to estimate the devastations but necessary measures are yet to be taken to solve the problems of the residents of this region. According to media reports; schools, health clinics, dams, gardens and lands of people are destroyed as the result of this flood and people are facing with shortage of drinking water.
The Complains and Petitions Committee of Wolesi Jirga conducted a session on September 17, 2013 where Minister of Rural Rehabilitation (Wais Barmak), head of Anti-Disaster Committee (Mohmmad Dayem Kakar) and a representative of Ministry of Agriculture, Arigation and Livestock (Zia Ahmad Abdul Rahim Zai) attended the session to review the performance and measures of the responsible entities regarding reconstruction of the devastated regions of flooded area. Mohammad Dayem Kakar said,” the results of Survey we had conducted in the region showed That as a result of the flood 30 residents of the region died, 31 people were injured, about 431 house, 2 Masjid(mosque) 17 dams, 1 health clinic and 2 schools are devastated. He added that some villages are
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
under risk of flood therefore he suggested building walls or transferring the residents of those villages to safe areas. The representative of Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock said that Ministry of Agriculture will help the farmers of the flooded regions and will soon clean the canals of Surobu district. Minister of Rural Rehabilitation said, “we allocate 600000$ for reconstruction of the flooded regions of Surobi district”. He added that they have finalized the reconstruction project of Surobi district and will soon start practical work.
At the end of the session members of committee decided that the residents of under risk regions of Surobi district must be carried to safe regions.
Lack of Control over the Travel Agencies has Caused an Increase in the Price of Tickets Due to the high price of airplane tickets the Telecommunication and Transportation Commission of Wolesi Jirga summoned chair of the Aviation Office on August 29, 2013. In addition to chair of Aviation office the representatives of aviation companies and 15 members of the commission were also present at the session. At the beginning of the session members of commission complained on increase of airplane tickets and said lack of control over the travel agencies is a major problem in the country. Najla Dehqan Nezhad (Herat) said that she had recently bought a ticket of Dubai 600$ however the price of this ticket is 250$. She urged the officials of Aviation Office and representatives of aviation companies to present information in this regard. Nassima Niazi (Helmand) and Habiba Sadat (Helmand) also said in the past a one way ticket of Helmand province was 6000 AFs but now it is 6800 Afs. Mirbat Khan Mangle (Khost) urged the officials to present information on the working process of Khost airport and Eng Saheb Khan (Logar) suggested building reservoirs of airplane oil in every province of Afghanistan to solve the problems of airline companies to decrease the price of airline ticket. Subsequently, chair of the Aviation Office answered the questions and said almost 700 ticket stores exist in the country which are established under control of Ministry of Information and Culture. He said lack of control over the ticket stores and dealing of ticket stores with the airlines companies is a impact on increase of ticket price. About building oil reservoirs he said that recently some companies are competing with each other to get the contract of airplane oil however in this contract was monopolized by Dawi Oil Company.
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
Chair of Aviation office said that at the beginning of December Khost airport will be inaugurated and start its activities. He also said that a new airline company names Afghant Jet has received certificate of activation and will soon start its activities. At the end of session it was decided that those ticket stores and airline companies that have increased the price of ticket must be penalized according to the law. it was also decided that the whole insurance documents, guaranty letters and types of the airplanes of Afghan Jet private airline company should be sent to the commission.
Security Issues
New Security Plan for Maintaining Security of Highways The recent insecurity in Afghanistan’s highways especially in Kabul Kandahar highway has threatened people, businessmen and International Security Forces. The insurgents attack on logistic caravans, businessmen goods, oil tankers of ISAF and kill civilians in the mentioned highway. The Complaints and Petitions Committee of Wolesi Jirga conducted a session on September 15, 2013 chaired by Obaidullah Barekzai chair of the committee where an official of Ministry of Defense, security Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs, senior advisor of National Security Directorate, head of local police of Ministry of Interior Affairs and 7 members of the committee attended to discuss the security condition in highways. At the beginning of session, Obaidullah Barekzai head of the committee pointed to the burning of 50 oil tankers in Maidan Wardak province and said, some security company fuel anarchy and insecurity in highway. Barakzai urged the officials to present information in this regard. Representative of Ministry of Defense said, lack of coordination among police and army in maintaining security of highways is a big problem and added that the new security plan which is made by the related organs can separate responsibilities of police and army in highways and create more coordination among these security forces. Deputy of public protection of Ministry of Interior Affairs said that the new plan is effective and it helped us to maintain security of highways. He added that after execution of this plane the level of terroristic actions decreased in highways. Senior advisor of the National Security Directorate said, “ the National Security Directorate provided the necessary information for police and army to conduct
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
clearance military operations in insecure regions.” He emphasized that the new plane helps security forces to maintain security of highways better than past. Subsequently, members of the committee expressed their concerns on insecurity among them Mohammad Aref Tayeb (Herat) said, “the total security forces of Gulran district of Herat province is 27 police which is not enough for a big district like Gulran. He added we have frequently urged Ministry of Interior Affairs to increase the number of police force in Gulran but they haven’t increased yet. Haji Amir Khan Dawlatzai(Nangahar) said, people’s cooperation is very important in maintaining security. Haji Abdul Jabar (Takhar) expressed his concern on existence of narcotic addicted people among police forces and said it is a concerning issue. At the end of session, members of committee decided to summon Minister of Interior Affairs, Minister of Defense and chair of the National Directorate to present information on security condition and existence of corruption in the security entities.
Wolesi Jirga questioned Ministers of Interior Affairs and National Defense Insecurity in some highways has threatened people and decreased the level of people commutation through land transport. Due to insecurity in the highways people prefer to travel through airplane instead of car. But those whose economy is weak accept risks and travel through land transport. The Complaints and Petitions Committee of Wolesi Jirga conducted a session on October 1, 2013 chaired by Obaidullah Barekzai head of the committee where ministers of Interior Affairs and National Defense attended to discuss the security problems in highways especially Kabul-Heart, Badakhshan, Daikondy and Paktika highways. The committee conducted its session while some residents of Badakhshan, Daikondy and Paktika were present in the session and expressed their concerns on insecurity in the mentioned highways. According to a resident of Paktika, armed conflict is in progress in the borderline of Afghanistan Pakistan but the central government of Afghanistan hasn’t assisted the residents of borderline to fight against Pakistan army. Head of the Committee (Obaidullah Barekzai) said, “The armed opponents of government kill innocent people in highways and burn the businessmen cars. “ Subsequently, Minister of Defense (Besmullah Mohammadi) said, “the security forces of Afghanistan have launched 52 clearance operations in Kabul-Heart highways and established 12 new battalions in these highways to maintain security.” He also added that soon they will launch clearance operations in districts of Paktika province. Simililarly Minister of Interior Affairs (Mohamamd Omar Daudzai) talked
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about establishment of 185 new checkpoints in Kabul-Heart Highway and presented information about his new plans for maintaining security of highways in the country. At the end of session, members of the Complaints and Petitions Committee of Wolesi Jirga decided that the security entities should share their new security plans with the committee to work jointly for maintaining security of highways.
Increase of Security threats to MPs After summer recess Wolesi Jirga conducted its first session on September 7,2013 chaired by Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi speaker of the house where 87 MPs out of 249 attended. At the beginning of the session speaker of the house presented the accomplishments of Wolesi Jirga from the winter recess of 2012 until summer recess of 2013 and said members of Wolesi Jirga has conducted 60 plenary sessions and 582 committee sessions that as a result 11 laws, two international treaties have been approved and the government budget within the mentioned time has been discussed. According to him four ministers were questioned and 900 complaints are reviewed and sent to the standing commissions for handling. He pointed to the murder of Shanaz Hematy a representative of Heart in Wolesi jirga, assassination attempt to assassinate Ahmad Shah Ramazan a representative of Balkh in Wolesi Jirga and kidnap of Friba Ahmady Kakar (a representative of Kandahar in Wolesi Jirga) and said MPs are seriously threaten. The enemies of Afghanistan always try to remove national and prominent figures to increase instability and insecurity in the country. The terrorists target members of national assembly to remove them and fuel increase anarchy in the country. Haji Abdul Motalib Bek, Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal, Ahmad Khan Samangani and etc… were members of 16th legislative period of Wolesi Jirga that were targeted and killed by insurgents. The threats are still in progress, Kidnap of Friba Kakar(MP) and unsuccessful attack on Mohammad Mohaqeq (MP)showed that the threats are in progress and insurgents are trying their best to remove prominent figures and members of National Assembly. According to the constitution of Afghanistan, government is responsible for maintaining the security of all citizens so, government must take serious measures to maintain security in the country. Members of national assembly must cooperate with the security officials to codify useful security plan for maintaining security of members of the house and prominent figures.
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
Reviewing People Problems
Reviewing Provincial Reports in the Plenary Sessions Wolesi Jirga is house of people and represents all Afghans. Oversight the performance of government and sharing people’s problems with the related entities are the main responsibility of Wolesi Jirga. According to the Internal Rules of Procedure of Wolesi Jirga after each recess (winter recess and summer recess) MPs must present their provincial reports to the plenary session. The provincial reports focus on problems of province which are observed by MPs during the recess time. Wolesi Jirga conducted a session on September 14, 2013 to hear the provincial reports of MPs. Insecurity, existence of irresponsible armed groups, shortage of security forces and an increase of crimes in the country were the main problems mentioned in the provincial reports.
Sharifi Balkhabi (Sare-Pul) said, “Insecurity is a concerning issue which challenges challenge 2014 presidential and provincial council election.” Fatema Aziz (Konduz) expressed her concerns over shortage of police and existence of irresponsible armed people in Konduz province. Hamedullah Tokhi (Zabul) criticized on lack of cooperation of army with local police in Zabul province and urged for increasing the number of local police. Bashir Ahmad Tayenge (Faryab) said, Taliba attacked on Qaisar district of Faryab province and killed innocent people in this district. Members of Wolesi Jirga condemned martyrdom of a female police in Helmad province and criticized on government for being silent in this regard. Nahed Farid (Heart) said when Malal (Pakistani girl) was injured by Pakistani Taliban majority of media in Afghanistan covered it and condemned it and school students were urged to pray for her but government didn’t take any action regarding martyrdom of Miss, Negara (a female police killed in Helmand). Nassima Niazi (Helmand) mentioned the accomplishments of Miss. Negara in Helmand province and urged government to prevent such murders. Lack of proper implementation of development projects and devastation of highways were another problems mentioned by MPs. Zakia Sangen (Parwan) criticized on reconstruction project of Qala Murad Bek-Jabal Saraj road. Mohammad Hashem (Faryab) said, unpaved roads of Mianmana city and lack of implementing industrial projects especially in section of carpet are major problems in Faryab province. Sadeqi Zada Nili (Daikondy) said, in winter the highways of Daikondy closes and residents of this province cannot take part in presidential election due to cold weather.
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Educational and Health problems, increase of unemployment, existence of corruption in offices and inability of executive and judicial officials were another problems mentioned by MPs. Lali Hamedzao (Kandahar) said there is corruption in education department of Kandahar province and based on decree of Educaiton Minister experts and qualified people are fired and unqualified people are hired instead of them. At the end of session, speaker of Wolesi Jirga promised the MPs that administrative board of Wolesi Jirga will share the mentioned problems with the related entities. He also urged the committees of Wolesi Jirga to summon the related government officials and share the problems with them.
Dissatisfaction of citizens from the acquisition process of their lands Acquisition of Land means obligating the owner of land to submit his/her property to government in return for a suitable price. According to article 40th of constitution, acquisition of land can only take place instead of a fair and suitable price or land in a good region. The article emphases on the government to pay a fair price or the alternative of acquisitioned land, Most of people whose lands are acquisitioned by government are not satisfied with the alternative (price of their land or land) given to them. Dissatisfaction of the people about the acquision process of lands is frequently raised in Complaints and Petitions Committee of Wolesi Jirga. The Complaints and Petitions Committee of Wolesi Jirga conducted a session on October 1, 2013 chaired by Abdullah Mohammadi where the Administrative and Financial Deputy of Kabul Municipality (Mohammad Akrami), Deputy Minister of Water and Energy ( Mohammad Sami) and head of acquisition Department of Kabul Municipality attended to review two petitions regarding land acquisition. Miss. Sharifa is a resident of Kabul Province whose house located in 4th district of Kabul but in 2006 Kabul Municipality acquisitioned her house and gave her land Padola desseert. Now the family of this woman are facing with shortage of drinking water and lack of paved road in Padolo dessert therefore she complained to the Complaints and Petitions Committee of Wolesi Jirga to give her land in a better place.
Admin and Financial Deputy of Kabul Municipality promised that he will share the issue with Kabul Municipality and if there is land in a better place he will change land of miss Sharifa. Also the MPs decided that within 5 days Kabul Municipality must send the report of changing Miss Sharifa’s land to the committee. Another received petition belonged to a person named Mir-Aqa. Mir Aqa’s land located in ButKhak village of Bagrami district of Kabul province but Kabul Municipality acquisitioned it and pay an amount of money to Mir Aqa instead of his land but Mir Aqa is not satisfied with the amount paid to him. Mir Aqa said that first Ministry of Water and Energy rented his land for building electricity generator but
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later on due to demand of Ministry of Water and Energy Kabul Municipality acquisitioned his land. He said, “Municipality must pay a suitable price instead of his land. Head of the Acquisition Department of Kabul Municipality said that Mir Aqa’s land is acquisitioned according to the law but he does not want to receive the amount of acquisition. At the end of session members of committee decided that Ministry of Water and Energy must send a letter to the presidency and demand to increase the price of Mir Aqa’s land.
Education and Sports
Wolesi Jirga Appreciated Championship of National Football Team The Afghan national football team beat Nepal in the semi-final match of the South Asia Football games to face India In the final match. In the final match Afghanistan defeated India and became champion of the South Asian countries. After the national football team returned to Kabul President of Afghanistan, members of cabinet, members of National Assembly, national businessmen, Civil Society Organizations and people appreciated them for their victory. The members of Wolesi Jirga also decided to appreciate the championship of Afghan national football team therefore on September 16, 2013 members of Wolesi Jirga invited the members of national team to Wolesi Jirga and appreciated them. Naqibullah Fayeq head of the Sports and Health Committee of Wolesi Jirga said championship of Afghan national football team is a big accomplishment for the country and urged the government to pay more attention to athletes. Similarly Obaidullah Ramin (Baghlan) said, “Championship of national football team brought national unity among people of Afghanistan therefore appreciating the national football team can pave the ground for further sport achievements.” Shokoria Barekzai (Kabul) appreciated the national football team and suggested the MPs to dedicate one month of their salary to the national football team. Subsequently, members of Wolesi Jirga promised to give their three days salary (about one million AFs) to the members of national football team and pave the ground for development of sport in the country. At the same time some other MPs gave an amount of money to the national football team. It is worth mentioning that cash gifts of MPs were only for members of the national football team not for football federation of Afghanistan.
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As it is mentioned by experts and analysts, championship of Afghan football team strengthened national unity among people in the country which is a great national achievement. It is worth mentioning that we cannot ignore role of sport in bringing unity among people. List of MPs who gave money to the members of national football team:
N o Name of MP Province amount
1 Sayed Akram Masoumi Takhar AFs 05555
2 Rayes Abdul Baqi Takhar AFs 05555
3 Delawar Aymaq Baghlan $ 2555
0 Eng: Sayed Akram Nangarhar $ 0555
Members of the national $ 15555 0 economy committee
6 Abdul Rahim Ayoubi Kandahar $ 2555
7 Ramazan Bashardost Kabul AFs 05555
Mohammad Zekeria Badakhshan AFs 2555 8 Sawda
9 Sayed Ali Kazemi Kabul AFs 05555
15 Abdul Latif Pedram Badakhshan $2555
Mohammad Noor Daikondy AFs 05555 11 Akbary
12 Qazi Rahela Saleem Panjsher AFs 1555
13 Naqab Mangal Paktia AFs 05555
Najla Dehqan Nezhad, Heart AFs 155555 10 Khalil Shahedzada, and Ghulam Faroq Majro
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10 Sher Ali Ahmadzai Nomad AFs 155555
16 Mohammad Omar Kandahar AFs0555 Nangyalai
17 Shayesta Baz Naseri Kondoz AFs 155555
18 Mohmmad Ali Akhlaqi Ghazni Afs 05555
19 Kabir Marzban Takhar Afs 05555
25 Rahima Jami Heart $ 1555
21 Mula Sayed Mohammad Kandahar $ 05555 Akhond
22 Allah gul Mojahed Kabul $ 2555
23 Obaidullah Barekzai Oruzgan $ 2555
20 Baz Mohammad Jowzjan Afs 05555 Jowzjani
20 Asefa Shadab Faryab Afs 05555
26 Habiba Sadat Helmand Afs 05555
27 Farhad Majidy Herat $ 3555
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
The Allocated Money for the Football Federation shouldn’t be paid from the Budget of Olympic Committee Heads of 48 federations of the National Olympic Committee attended a session of the Sports and Health Commission of Wolesi Jirga and said the allocated 1 million USD for the football federation should not be paid from the budget of Olympic Committee. After championship of the national football team of Afghanistan in south Asia’s football competition president of Afghanistan decided to allocate 1 million$ from budget of National Olympic committee to the Footbal Federation. After this decision heads of all Olympic federations complained on the issue and urged president to revise his decision. Heads of the mentioned federations expressed their concerns on recent on the decision of president and said this issue will cause shortage of budget in the Olympic Committee and discourage athletes from sport. Heads of the mentioned commissions pointed to international medals and achievements of Afghan athletes and said the achievements of other sports federations should not be ignored. Zaher Sahadat (Panjsher) appreciated the championship of national football team and said the allocated amount should not be paid from the budget of National Olympic Committee otherwise it will have negative impacts on other athletes.
At the end of session Naqibullah Fayeq said that he will share the issue with the president and raise it in plenary session of Wolesi Jirga to find a solution for it. He also said that Wolesi Jirga will try to allocate more budgets for the Olympic Committee next year.
Oversight the Performance of Government
The Independent Election Commission announced it s Readiness to Conduct the Upcoming Presidential and Provincial Council elections
According to the Independent Election Commission’s timeline the 2014 presidential and provincial council’s election will be conducted on April 5, 2014 but the electoral entities, people, political parties, political groups, government entities and international community have already started taking preparation for 2014 election. The voter registration process is in progress in all over country (except some insecure districts) and the candidates’ registration process is started. According to the law on IEC composition, duties and competencies members of the Independent Election Commission must be selected by the Selection Committee and introduce to the president for
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approval. Recently the Selection Committee i2selected the qualified candidates and introduced to the president for appointing. Among the introduced candidates president elected five of them and appointed as members of the Independent Election Commission. Chair of the Independent Election Commission (Mohammad Yousaf Nooristani), Deputy of IEC (Abdul Rahman Hootaki) and head of the secretariat of IEC (Ziaul Haq Amar Khil) attended a hearing session of Wolesi Jirga on September 11, 2013 to present information on voter registration process and readiness of commission for conducting the 2014 presidential and provincial council elections. At the beginning of the session chair of IEC presented information on voter registration process and said, “The voter registration process is in progress in 399 districts and regions of cities but due to insecurity we could not establish the voter registration centers in 7 districts of Helmand, Ghazni and Paktika.” He also assured MPs that IEC will try its best to conduct a fair, free and transparent election and said, commission has enough budget (126 million USD$) to conduct the 2014 election. He said insecurity is a major problem for conducting election in some regions of the country and added, yet one million four hundred thousand and one hundred fifty people including more than 7 thousand nomads have received voting cards. Some members of Wolesi Jirga emphasized on conducting election in its specific time and expressed their concerns on low number of voter registration centers, shortage of female staff in election process and unawareness of people in remote areas. A number of MPs suggested IEC to establish voting centers for refugees who live out of Afghanistan and sent its mobile voter registration teams to remote areas of country to register eligible people. In response to the questions and suggestions of MPs chair of IEC said, IEC will extend the duration of voter registration process and try to hire more female staff in election process. He added, the commission will pave the ground for Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan to take part in election. He also said, “It is in our working plan to sent mobile teams to the remote areas of Afghanistan to register eligible people. Along with conducting election in 2014 the mission of international Security Forces end in Afghanistan and there is doubt that election will not be conducted in its legal time. Security challenges is another problem for conducting a free and fair election in Afghanistan which undermines a fair and free election therefore political parties say lack of a free and fair election is challenging. The security entities along with the Independent Election Commission must try their best to pave the ground for conducting a free and fair election in the country.
2 2 The Selection Committee is composed of chair of Supreme Court, chair of the Independent Commission for Supervision of the Implementation for Constitution, speakers of national assembly, chair of the Independent Human Rights Commission and a representative of civil society.2 21 |
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Questioning Minister of Mines to present information on incident of Samangan mine Samangan is a northern province of Afghanistan that some of its districts including Darah Sof,Doab and some others have coal mines. According to the information, the biggest coal mine of Afghanistan locate in Dara Sof district of Samangan province. Some time ago as a result of explosion in coal mine of Doab district of Samangan province 23 workers of the mine died. On October 2, 2013 Wolesi Jirga questioned Minister of Mines and Petrolium to present information about the reason of the incident. At the beginning of the session Minister of Mines and Petrolium said,”the result of investigations shows that there were different reasons behind Samangan incident.”Existence of Mitan gas, electricity sparks or stone digging are diagnosed the possible reasons of causing explosion in the mine. The Minister didn’t reject that the explosion could have taken place as a result of explosive material replacement inside the mine. He added that they fired a number of related officials due to laches in their work. He said that in addition to the assistance of presidency to the families of dieds, Ministry of Mine will assist them for five years.
A number of MPs criticized on Ministry of Mine due to lack of emergency services in the coal mine and said that most of mines are extracting slowly and contracts are signed with the favorite companies. Sadeqi Zada Nili (Daikony) said, “The hope of Afghans are the mines of Afghanistan but Ministry of Mine sign contracts with the companies secretly and why immunity of mine workers are not considred.” Wahedullah Shahrani (Minister of Mines and Petrolium) said, “Cabnet of Afghanistan decides on signing contract with the companies not Ministry of Mine.” He added that Ministry of Mine pays attention to the imunity of mines workers. He said that due to lack of railway, economic recession and existence of negative vision about Afghanistan companies are not interested to invest on mines of Afghanistan. The responses of Minister were not satisfactory for MPs therefor they decided to impeach the Minister in next session. Some times the decision of Wolesi Jirga is not followed up in its specifiv time. As seen Wolesi Jirga decided to impeach Minister of Mine in their next session but they didn’t impeach him and the Minister resigned due to participating in presidential election as deputy of a presidential candidat.
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Wolesi Jirga Disclosed Names of Land Usurpers Eight Month ago Wolesi Jirga established a Special Committee to oversight government and identify land grabbers. According to the rules of procedure of Wolesi Jirga, working duration of this committee was for six month but due to importance of the issue and lack of cooperation of related entities with this committee Wolesi Jirga extended the working duration of this committee to eight month. Zulmai Mojadidy head of this committee said, three decades war and lack of rule of law have paved the ground for land mafia to usurp government and non-government lands in the country. He added that after a long period of war a number of local commanders and influential people used lack of rule of law and usurped government and non-government lands or built illegal towns. Mr. Mojadidy added that they have prepared the list of land usurpers based on the information given to them by government (Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Kabul Municipality). After the Special Committee disclosed the list of land usurpers Shokoria Barekzai criticized on the list and said, “Names of the real land usurpers are not included in this list.” Zulmai Mojadidy said, names of land usurpers and illegal built towns are as follow:
towns Names of people who have hand in usurping of lands Inheritance of Abdullah Sayed Hussain Shah Abdullah(Jihadi commander of Safa town, 1100 acres land Shakar darah district
Ghulam Rasoun Milad Noor twon, 380 acres land Malik Wazer Gul, 1400 acres
Kart-Nejat (NAjibullah Kabuli) Qari Shamsullah Parwan province Haji Agha Mohammad 20 thousand acres land Sholgara
Hashmat Ghani town, 35 Haji Sekanda Thousand acres Sakhi Noor Agha
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Khatem ulAnbeya town, 47 Sayed Abdul Wahed Bagrami Mohammad Younis Thousand acres
Ahmad Shah Mashoud town 15 Zainul Abedin Sayed Mansour Naderi thousand acres
Malik Wazer Gul twon, 1400 Hamesha gul son of Islam Sayed Ishaq Gellani acres
Mohammad Sharif Baz Mohammad Sayed Zaher Dara Qumandan Bahram town
Be Be Nafisa Town, 100 Haji Daron Haji Azrat Noor thousand acres
Jabar town (Mohammad Nabi), Mall Lon Khil Haji Niaz Mohmmad 445 acres land
Vote of Confidence of Wolesi Jirga to the Government Officials According to the constitution of Afghanistan, appointment of a specific number of government officials depends to approval of Wolesi Jirga. The ministers of cabinet, members of Supreme Court, members of the Independent Commission for supervision Of the Implementation of the Constitution and chair of Afghan Red Cresent Society must get vote of confidence of Wolesi Jirga to be apointed. On September 17, 2013 the second vice president of Afghanistan (Mohammad Karim Khalili) introduced the candidate minister of Interior Affairs, candidate Minister of Border and Tribes, candidate of membership at the Supreme Court and
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two candidates of membership at the Independent Commission for Suprevision of the implementation of the Constitution to Wolesi Jirga to get vote of confidence. The mentioned people attended the plenary session of Wolesi Jirga on September 26, 2013 to get vote of confidence. According to the internal rules of procedure of Wolesi Jirga the introduced candidates must explain their working plans before going to the voting process. the candidates explained their working plans and then administrative board of Wolesi Jirga put the ballot boxes for them . Each candidate needed to receive majority votes pro of present MPs. After the voting concluded Mohammad Omar Dawodzai (candidate Minister of Interior Affairs), Mohammad Akram Ikhpelwak (candidate Minister of Borders and Tribs), Barat Ali Matin (candidate of membership at High Council of Suprem Court) and Lutfulrahman Sayed (candidate of membership at the Independent Commission for Supervision of the Implementation of the Constitution) obtained majority of votes pro but Nasrullah Astanikzai could not receive the necessary votes to be appointed as member of the Independent Commission for Suprevision of the implementation of the Constitution.
Name Candidate for Votes pro Votes Blank Invalid Against votes Votes
Mohammad Omar Ministry of Interior 153 55 9 5 Dawodzai Affairs
Mohammad Akram Ministry of Borders 132 69 16 4 Akhpelwak and Tribs
Barat Ali Matin Membership at the high 154 50 17 1 council of Suprem Court
Lutfulrahman Sayed Membership at the 149 40 21 2 Independent Commision for the supervision of the implementation of Constitution
Nasrullah Istanikzai Membership at the 106 86 6 23 Independent Commission for the Supervision of the
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Implementation of Constitution
The Finance and Budget Committee is reviewing the 2012 Qatia report Qatia is a financial document which shows the amount of spent budge, syntax of implementing budget and annual venues and expenses. Each year the Suprem Audit office in coordination with the Ministry of Finance prepare the report of Qatia and send to Wolesi Jirga for approval. According to the Qatia Ministry of Finance and other organs know that which budgetary units have spent most of their budget and which budgetary units were unable to spend their budgets. The Finance and Budget Committee of Wolesi Jirga conducted a session on October 10,2013 chaired by head of the committee where Minister of Public Health, Administrative Deputy of Ministry of Finance, head of Treasury Department of Ministry of Finance, Vocational Deputy of the Supreme Audit Office, head of Auditing the Budget, Procurement Deputy of Ministry of Interior Affairs, Deputy Minister of Defense and Financial Deputy of the Independent Directorate of Local governance attended to review the 2012 Qatia report. It is worth mentioning that Ministers of Defense, Interior Affairs and Finance were also invited to appear the session but they couldn’t attend the session and sent their representatives. Assessment of Supreme Audit Office shows that in contrary to the Budget Regulation, money is transferred from on budgetary unit to another. The reviewing of the Supreme Audit office show that 1 billion Afs is deducted from the salary section of Ministry of Interior Affairs and added to the budget of Public Protection Force. Also 100 million Afs from Ministry of Public Health, 200 milion Afs from Ministry of Defense and 40 Million Afs from Independent Directorate of Local Agencies was deducted and added to other budgetary units. According to the Budget Implementation Regulation; regular budget which includes salary and other privileges of staff of ministries and other entities is fixed and non- transferable to other sections. Amir Khan Yar, head of the Committee on Budget and Finance of Wolesi Jirga said, transferring amounts from non-transferable codes is contrary to the Budget Implementation Regulations. Other members of the committee including Hamida Akbary, Ruqia Nayel, Sadeqi Zada Nili and Azim Moheseny said why the Ministry of Finance has allocated the money for the salary section to other sections. They added this action of Ministry of Finance is against the 2012 Budget Implementation 26 |
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Regulation and urged the representative of Ministry of Finance to present information in this regard. They said amending the Budget law is the responsibility of National Assembly not Ministry of Finance. Subsequently, Administrative Deputy of Ministry of Finance said, “when the entities can not spend their budget Ministry of Finance can transfer their budget to other entities. Suraya Dalil Ministry of Public Health said that deduction of 100 milion Afs from the budget of this Ministry didn’t have negative impacts on its activities. At the end of session due to lack of attendance of Ministers of Defense, Interior Affairs and Finance the committee decided to postpone reviewing of the Qatia report to next session of the committee. Qatia report can clear the shortages and deficiency of budget. Reviewing of 2011 the Qaita report showed that some ministries were unable to spend at least 50% of their development budgets which caused interpellation of ministers by Wolesi Jirga. So, we urge Wolesi Jirga to review the Qatia report accurately to ensure transparency in the annual budget of country.
4. Parliamentary Hearing: Parliamentary hearings aim to discuss the reports of MPs and executive officials on the issues of concern. Following table shows the hearing sessions in this reporting period:
Body/Authority Issues un hearing Date
1 Members of Wolesi Jirga Presenting information about their September 14,2013 provinces problems
Members of Wolesi Jirga Presenting information about their September 18,2013 provinces problems
Members of Wolesi Jirga Presenting information about their October 7,2013 provinces problems
Officials of Anti-Disaster Presenting information about readiness October 16,2013 Committee of the committee for struggling against emergency conditions
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5. Parliementary Questioning:
Parliamentary questioning is a very important tool for Wolesi Jirga to oversee the performences of the governmetn. Following table presents the quesioning sessions of Wolesi Jirga in this reporting period:
Body/Authority Issues un hearing Date
1 Besmullah Mohamadi Increase of Insecurity in highways October 5,2013 (Minister of Defense)
2 Mohammad Omar Daudzai Increase of Insecurity in highways October 5,2013 (Minister of Interior Affairs)
3 Rahmatullah Nabil (care Increase of Insecurity in highways October 5,2013 taker of National Security Directorate)
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5. Legislative Report Draft-Law on Mines Purpose of the Law: this law is codified in 20 chapters and 116 articles for the following purposes: 1. Regulating the affairs related to the development and effective usage of mineral sources in the country. 2. Regulating and managing probing activities and utilizing the mineral resources 3. Economical self-sufficient through developing mineral sectors. 4. Ensuring that mineral sources are managed will according to best methods and international experiences 5. Getting the benefit of extraction and processing of minerals 6. Paving the ground for internal and external investment on mines 7. Maintaining peace and security through developing economical activities in the mines regions.
Main points of the bill:
Duties and responsibilities of Ministry of Mines and Petroleum Inquiry and exploration of mineral materials Codifying policies to develop mines sector Supporting domestic and foreign investment in different mines filed Establishing a special commission to execute the duties and responsibilities of Ministry of Mines The syntax of signing contract or giving certificate of activation to the related companies The syntax of acquisition, rent or usage of land for mineral activities Certificate of probing, certificate of exploration, certificate of utilization and certificate of mining. Regulating the syntax of fees, tax and salary of mine extractors Health and safety of staff and mines’ worker Safety of environment and development of regions Supporting investment and financial guaranty in mining section Struggling against lure of government workers in section of extracting mines
Main Affecting Groups: 1. Ministry of Mines and Petroleum 2. Government companies that work in field of mines exploration 3. Private companies(national and international) that work in field of mines exploration
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4. Workers of mines and mineral sources 5. Other persons and related offices involved in process of mines exploration.
Accountability of Kunduz MPs to the People Free & Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan Organization (FEFA) conducted a town hall in Konduz province on September 29, 2013 where 80 participants including representatives of Konar in Wolesi Jirga, members of Provincial Counsel of Konar, representatives of political parties, representatives of CSOs, media and a number of people attended to discuss the challenging issues in Konar province. One week before conducting the town hall, FEFA interviewed the members of provincial counsel of Konar, security officials, and members of DABS (electricity Department of Konar) to note the problems for sharing in the town hall. The town hall was aimed to pave the way for representatives of Konar in Wolesi Jirga, Provincial Council, government officials and representatives of CSOs to discuss important challenging issues.
Three important issues insecurity, shortage of electricity and drinking water were discoused in this round table. First Issue of discussion: Konar is a strategic province hence insecurity in this province have negative impacts on the neighboring provinces. The government officials haven’t taken any practical action to maintain security in this province so, majority of residents of this province complain on insecurity and existence of illegal armed groups. According to the information given by residents’ illegal armed groups exist in this province and challenge life of people government officials have frequently promised residents of Konar that they will maintain security of this province but they haven’t taken any practical measures yet. The CSOs view: The representatives of CSOs said that by passing each day the security condition is getting worse in Konar and central government does not pay attention on maintaining security at this province. According to them, the security forces are not equipped with the necessary combat equipments. The CSOs recommended the security forces to leave the central regions of Konar province and station in border line. They added that International security forces don’t want to maintain security honestly. CSOs urged government to not arrest people based on rumors. They also urged the International Security Forces to not target the houses of innocent people of Konar province. CSOs said most of
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families whose houses were targeted and attacked by foreign forces joined to Taliban. The CSOs said if USA maintains interest of Afghanistan government of Afghanistan should the bilateral security agreement with USA. The CSOs think that the current war in Afghanistan is not lead by Afghans. They believe that foreign elements have hand in this war. The CSOs say, “religious scholars can play important role in maintain peace and security in Afghanistan.” They say religious scholars must define war and say it war against Afghan security forces is illegal.
The representatives of CSOs said, those government officials and MPs who do not have capability of solving people problems must resign from their posts to support good governance in the country. At the end they promised that they are ready to have cooperation with the security forces.
The Provincial Counsel view: members of provincial counsel said that Konar is mountanious province which has long shared borther with Pakistan therefore it is difficult to maintain security in this province. they said,” we have frequently contacted the related governmetn officials to maintain security at Konar province. they added that memebers of provincial counsel of Konar have contact with the tribal leaders of all remote districts of Konar province and usualy visit them to talk about security problems. members of provincial counsel said people must cooperate with the governmetn to maintain security otherwise governmetn can not maintain security in Konar province. commitement: members of provincial counsel of Konar promised to accelerat their activities to maintain peace and stability in this province.they said they are ready to cooperate with the related govermnent institution to maintain security. Memebers of provincial counse urge Wolesi Jirga to pay attention on insecurity in Konar province. view of Konar representatives in Wolesi Jirga: representatives of konar in Wolesi Jirga said insecurity is a big chalenge in Konar province therefore they have raised their voice in Wolesi Jirga to attract attention of government and solve this problem. According to them security forces do not carry out their duties independently. Whenever they want to do any thing they should get order from center. Simililarly security forces do not have enough equipments to carry out guerilla war however armed opponent of government have modern euipments.
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They think, detective institutions can prevent guerilla wars in Afghanistan therefore governmetn should support detective institutions of Afghanistan. The members of Wolesi Jirga said, “due to mentioned problems they impeached the previsous Interior Minister (Ghulam Mujtaba Patang) and disqulified him. They added that Wolesi Jirga is not executive body it can only share people’s problems with the governmetn officials.
Members of Wolesi Jirga urged government to increase the number of security forces in Konar province and said soon local police will station in all districts of Konar province. Promise: according to MPs, Wolesi Jirga is divided into different groups so; it is difficult to agree on an issue. They added that they will try their best to share the mentioned issues with the related government institutions. MPs are accountable to their constituents so they take the necessary steps to solve their problems.
MPs are representatives of people and respect their votes, so they are obligated to help people solve their problems.
Second Issue of discussions: Konar is has a lot of water resources hence government can build a lot of dams in this province. however Konar has a lot of water resources government hasn’t built dams in this province to solve the electricity problems of people. According to information, the electricity distribution center of Asad Abad (center of Konar province) which was built by Russians is devastating and residents of Konar are passing their days without having electricity. According to the existed data, including Sortaq region of Konar government can build dams in five other regions of Konar province. Views of Civil Society Organizations in this regard: Representatives of CSOs said, “ if government use the water of Konar province and build dams it can distribute electricity to regional provinces of Konar too.
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According to them officials at electricity department of Konar are not professional and do not have the capacity of utilizing the natural resources to produce electricity. So, it is necessary to deploy professional people in this section. They said, Ministry of Water and Energy have discriminatory behavior with the western provinces. they added however Ministry of water and Energy can build dams in Konar province but unfortunately they don’t do it. According to CSOs, the existed electricity of Konar is not being distributed equily for residents of Konar, government officials and powerful people have electricity but poor people do not have electricity. The promises that members of Wolesi Jirga and provincial counsel made during their candidcy campaign havn’t practice them yet. They added that the overseeing role of provincial counsel should be increase.
View of Provincial Counsel: Members of provincial counsel said, they have frequently met Minister of Water and Energy to solve the electricity problem of Konar and he promised us to solve the problems but unfortunately he hasn’t taken any measure yet.
According to the members of provincial counsel government hasn’t pay attention to development of this province. According to the procedure of Ministry of Finance more budgets should be allocated to less developed provinces to reconstruct them. They said, we allocated one million dollar for building a dam in Konar province but unfortunately the mentioned amount lost and there is no information about that money. They said, “ we contacted Ukraine to help technically and finacialy help use and they sent their professional engineers to Konar but after some days the engineers stopped their works and left Konar. They said in section of repairing Asad Abads electricity a British Engineer had promised them to repair the electricity of Asad Abad city but when the issue was shared with the governor and government, they didn’t announce their cooperation in this regared therefore the engineer ignored his promise. Members of provincial counsel said each year millions of AFs is spent on repairation of electricity machins but they are not efficient so government should but new machineries. According to them, an engineer name Jandad exist in Konar and say he can repair electricity of Asad Abad by guaranty but government does not provide him the necessary equipments.
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Members of provincial counsel of Konar supports the initiative of Wolesi Jirga for building dams in Konar and say they must try their best in this reagrs.
Promises: Provincial counsel plan to present information about its activities and achievements to people. Provincial counsel will give priority to building dams in Konar province and will share it demands with the government. The members of provincial counsel say if government does not pay attention on building dams in Konar province they will stages protests.
Views of representatives of Konar in Wolesi Jirga Members of Wolesi Jirga said that electricity is a professional and technical issue and we can not solve it in short time but we have frequently met Minister of Water and Energy and shared the issue with him. Members of Wolesi Jirga said, “Neglect of Minister of Water and Energy in building dam in Sortaq region caused his interpellation but unfotunatly Wolesi Jirga is divided into different groups and he could receive vote of confidence.” Members of Wolesi Jirga added that the issue of Konar electricity is politicized and improper competition of some countries and weak management of government causes lack of building dams in Konar province. Members of Wolesi Jirga restated that they have frequently met the president of Afghanstan and shared the issue of Konar electricity with him and the president promised to solve the problem but unfortunetly he hasn’t taken any practical measure yet. Likewise, some time ago a number of ministers were invited to Konar province and they also promised to solve the electricity problems but unfortunately no practical action is taken yet. According to MPs, Wolesi Jirga is not an executive body and can only share the problems of people with the related government officials. Members of Wolesi Jirga urged people to oversight them and tell them their weak points.
Commitment: Wagma Sapi a representative of Konar in Wolesi Jirga said that she will raise the problem of Konar electricity in Wolesi Jirga. Members of Wolesi Jirga promised that they will share the issue of electricity with Ministry of Water and Energy and try their best to solve the problem.
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Members of Wolesi Jirga will try to allocate a specific amount for repairing of electricity in the upcoming budget of Konar province.
Representatives of provincial counsel and other related officials who attended the roundtable
Mr. Nasrullah Sapi
. Engineer Mohammad ASMAIL
Mr. Asmial Monib (head of Konar High Peace Counsel)
Mr. Haji Rozi Khan (ex-governor of Konar)
Mr. Mawlawi Abdul Rahman (Head of Konar Ulema Counsel)
Mr. Qazi Mohammad Nabi (deputy governor of Konar)
Note: among the members of provincial counsel of Konar, Sayed Sekandar Shah and Haji Noorudin were also invited to attend the roundtable but could not attend.
All representative of Konar in Wolesi Jirg were invited to attend this session but only one of them attended this session
Mis. Wagma Sapi representative of Konar in Wolesi Jirga attended this session
Note: Mawlawi Shahzada Shahed and Haji Sakhi Meshwani other representatives of Konar in Wolesi Jirga were also invited to attend this session but unfortunately didn’t attend.
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Acountability of Herat MPs to the People Free & Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan Organization (FEFA) conducted a town hall in Konduz province on October 26, 2013 where 62 participants including representatives of Konar in Wolesi Jirga, members of Provincial Counsel of Konar, representatives of political parties and CSOs, media and a number of people attended to discuss the existed problems in Herat province. The town hall was aimed to pave the ground for representatives of Herat in Wolesi Jirga, Provincial Council, government officials and representatives of CSOs to discuss the existed problems in Herat province. One week before conducting the town hall, FEFA interviewed the members of provincial counsel of Herat, security officials and representatives of CSOs to note the problems and rise in the town hall. The attendees of session discussed two major problems, insecurity in Herat province and violence against women.
First issue of discussion: Herat is a strategic province which has joint border with Iran. The important ports of Herat are Islam Qala and Toghondi. Though a relative security is maintained in Herat but a number of its residents complain on insecurity and existence of illegal armed groups. They say Illegal armed groups threat people in some districts of Heart province. View of Civil Society Organizations: Representatives of CSOs said, “By passing each day, insecurity increase in Herat province and government do not take any measure to prevent it. CSOs say that by return of Afghan refugees to Herat province insecurity increased. CSOs say that additional security personal is deployed to maintain security of members of provincial counsel, MPs and other government officials which causes insecurity due to shortage of enough security personal. They say, most of MPs misuse office and use security forces for their personal benefit. According to CSOs, though there is no enough security personal in Nimroz the nehiboring province of Herat security condition is good there. But though there is enough security forces in Heart the security condition is getting worse and political assassinations is increased by passing each day. They added that in the current year 40 civilians were killed. They CSOs believe that the influential figures of Herat have hand in insecurity of this province.
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They added that if such meetings between MPs and constituents were conducted earlier now it could have positive results. CSOs restated that MPs should conduct direct and indirect sessions with their constituents to review their problems. CSOs said, “If MPs, members of provincial counsel and people have coordination they can solve the problems soon.
Views of Provincial Counsel of Herat province: The members of provincial counsel of Heart said that they have consulted with the security officials of Herat to maintain security and have tried their best to create coordination among security forces (National Army, National Police and National Security Directorate). They said that the international security forces didn’t practical their commitments during security transition process. Members of provincial counsel of Heart said, “When ordinary people inform security institutions about occurrence of security incidents their identity is not kept secret therefore ordinary people do not cooperate with the security institutions.” Members of provincial counsel said that they are frequently contact the security institutions of Herat to inform them about the security problems. Commitment: members of provincial counsel promised to accelerate their activities to help security institutions maintain security at Herat.
The members of provincial counsel said they have build strong relationship with the representatives of Heart in Wolesi Jirga and will jointly try to solve problems of Heart province. View of representatives of Herat in Wolesi Jirga: Representatives of Herat in Wolesi Jirga said, “There is a series of security problems in Herat province which should be solved soon.” They said that Afghanistan enters a historic period (holding the presidential election and Security transition from foreign forces to internal forces). Therefore domestic and foreign enemies of Afghanistan want to challenge security of this country.
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Members of Wolesi Jirga pointed to groups who fuel instability in the country don’t want Afghans to live in peace and prosperity. Representatives of Herat in Wolesi Jirga said, “Our responsibility is approving laws, oversight government and representing people and have done salient works in these regards.” They said in their speech that Wolesi Jirga is not an executive body and can only share the problems of people with government. The MPs said, “Due to increase of insecurity Wolesi Jirga questioned chair of the National Security Directorate, Minister of Interior Affairs and Minister of National Defense.” They said that Wolesi Jirga disqualified the ex-Interior Minister due to insecurity in the country.” MPs added that Herat has a wide area but the existed security forces in Herat is not enough for maintain security of this province. At the same time Omar Daudzai the new Interior Minister has promised to increase the number of police forces in Herat province. Members of Wolesi Jirga appreciated sacrificing of security forces and said, “Afghanistan is in progress which will face many challenges.” Members of Wolesi Jirga pointed to the overseeing responsibility of this institution and said according to this competency Wolesi Jirga disclosed names of land grabbers. According to them Wolesi Jirga has a series of legal responsibility which cannot be carried out without cooperation of constituents and people.
Commitment: representatives of Herat in Wolesi Jirga promised to prioritize security in their working plan and urge the related ministries and institutions to increase the number of security forces in Herat. The MPs also said that they will conduct regular sessions with their constituents to hear their problems and share with the related government institutions.
Second Issue of Discussion: An achievement of Herat during the past 12 years is increase of women participation in political, social and cultural affairs but violence against women is a big problem in some districts of Herat therefore the related institutions must draw effective plans to decrease violence against women.
View of CSOs: Members of civil society of Herat said that violence against women is a big problem in this province. According to them yet no effective program is implemented to remove violence against women. They said that special counsels should be established in remote regions of Herat to solve women problems and increase the level of women awareness.
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Representatives of CSOs restated that government must create job opportunities for women. According to the existed information in some districts of Herat province principles of girls schools are men. CSOs said that short term and long term courses must be conducted to train and increase the level of women awareness level. Representatives of CSOs said, “Role of scholars and religious people have important role in removing violence against women.
View of provincial counsel of Herat: Members of provincial counsel of Herat said that they have considered gender in working committees of this council and added that they have conducted conferences, seminars and workshops to increase the level of women awareness. Members of provincial counsel said “ we have encouraged government and non-government institutions to implement anti- violence against women programs.” We travel to remote areas of Herat province to review women problems and violence against women, said members of provincial counsel. Members of counsel stated that they have informed International Community and Embassy of USA about the probable problems and challenges that women will face after 2014. They believe that Herat is a traditional province and it is difficult to solve women problems soon. Members of provincial counsel added that governor of Herat has promised them to pay attention on women problems but unfortunately hasn’t done anything yet.
Commitment: Members of provincial counsel of Herat promised to struggle against violence against women and implement public awareness programs. Additionally they will encourage other organizations to implement effective programs to decrease the violence against women.
Representatives of Herat in Wolesi Jirga: Members of Wolesi Jirga said that violence against women is an international issue which exists in most countries of the world. As an example they pointed to force marriage of a 6 years of girl in Pakistan. Last week a 6 years old girl got married in Pakistan but later on police arrested a number of people due to having hand in this case. Members of Wolesi Jirga added that they are in contact with some women and organizations which are working for women and said that they will visit some villages and districts of this province to solve the problems. 39 |
Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
Members of Wolesi Jirga said, “It is the responsibility of government to remove violence against women and urged the related institutions in Kabul to take the necessary steps and implement the necessary programs to remove violence against women. Members of Wolesi Jirga restated that men and women are equal and have equal rights.
Commitment: Representatives of Herat in Wolesi Jirga promised to accelerate their activities to solve the problems and said that serving to people is their duty. They added that they share the issue of violence against women with Ministry of Hadj and Religious Affairs, Ministry of Women Affairs and Ministry of Interior Affairs and will try their best to develop Herat.
Representatives of provincial counsel and other related officials who attended the roundtable
Miss. Sakina Hussaini
Dr. Ahmad Ghani Khosrawi, Deputy of Heart university
Dr. Nesar Ahmad Mosadeq, head of specialists association
Miss. Mahboba Jamshedy, head of Women Department
Note: members of provincial counsel of Heart were also invited attend the session but due to unknown problems they could not attend.
All representative of Konar in Wolesi Jirg were invited to attend this session but only two of them attended this session
Miss. Najla Dehqan Nezhad
Miss. Massouda Karokhi
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
6. Five Question with two MPs
Name of MP: Maryam Kofi Province of Takhar MP:
Position: Member of Wolesi Number of first Jirga Terms as MP:
1. How can Wolesi Jirga be strengthened as an institution and how do you assess the cooperation of Wolesi Jirga with Civil Society Organizations?
Wolesi Jirga can be strengthened as an institution when its members regularly attend plenary and committee sessions. the administrative board of Wolesi Jirga must have a specific plan when preparing the agenda of Wolesi Jirga. The important national issues should be added in the agenda to be discussed in the sessions. MPs should prevent discussing on repeated and unimportant issues. Wolesi Jirga should prioritize the following issues: 1- approving laws, 2- economical development, 3- maintaining peace in the country, 4- education, and 5- national budget. About cooperation of Wolesi Jirga with the Civil Society Organizations I should say that unfortunately cooperation between Wolesi Jirga and Civil Society is very limited. So, the level of cooperation among Wolesi Jirga and Civil society should be increased through holding consultative sessions and seminars.
2. How much have you been able to represent your electorate in Wolesi Jirga and in what ways have you consult with your constituents while in office?
I think most of MPs could not represent their constituents well in this period but we tried to solve our constituents’ problems through phone calls, meetings and consultations. I have tried my best to solve people’s problems and give them consultations.
3. What Law Do You Think You Have Contributed the Most?
I have tried my best to have active role in approving laws which were discussed in plenary sessions or committee sessions for example I had active role in approval of Electoral Law, Law on banning Violence against Women, Provincial Counsels Law, the Law on MPs Privileges and etc…
4. Have you taken any actions to oversee the implementation of a legislation once approved and have you taken any action to oversee the work of the Government? 41 |
Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
Yes, after approval of the electoral law MPs oversight its implementation by the Independent Election Commission. We will focus on performance of the Independent Election Commission in the second round of voter registration center and handling the electoral violations by the Electoral Complaints Commission.
5. What do you think has been your biggest achievement during your time as MP?
My biggest achievement is paving the ground of work for women and youth in the country.
Name of MP: Eng: Saheb Khan Province of Logar MP:
Position: Member of Wolesi Number of first Jirga Terms as MP:
1. How can Wolesi Jirga be strengthened as an institution and how do you assess the cooperation of Wolesi Jirga with Civil Society Organizations?
Wolesi Jirga can be strengthened when members of administrative board of Wolesi Jirga and members of administrative board of committees of Wolesi Jirga is elected based on qualification and ability. The MPs should not consider ethnicity, language and religion while making a decision but unfortunately MPs consider them. Wolesi Jirga has good relationship with the CSOs but some time government influence on them and they prefer their personal interests than national interest.
2. How much have you been able to represent your electorate in Wolesi Jirga and in what ways have you consulted with your constituents while in office?
Unfortunately I should say that due to economy and security problems I was not able to represent my people well. Even some times we cannot contact to districts through phone.
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
3. What Law Do You Think You Have Contributed the Most?
I have contributed a lot in enrichment of the following laws:
1. In amendment of the Law on Baning Violance against Women. 2. Canceling of MTA agreement (MTA is a technical military agreement according which foreign logistic companies were exempted from paying tax to the government of Afghanistan. 3. Approval of the Law on Transit (APTICA and APTA) 4. Approval of Census Law 5. Amendment of the Higher Education Law that unfortunately it is not approved yet
4. Have you taken any actions to oversee the implementation of a legislation once approved and have you taken any action to oversee the work of the Government?
I should say that government is weak in implementation of laws and we have been also unable to oversight government well.
5. What do you think has been your biggest achievement during your time as MP?
Our first achievement is preventing the intervention of government in 16th period of Wolesi Jirga’s election. Government wanted to inter 62 failed candidates of Wolesi Jirga election to Wolesi Jirga.
Our next achievement is canceling of the MTA agreement. Through canceling this agreement we proved that still members of Wolesi Jirga love Islam and their country.
Changing the fiscal year can also be considered as achievement
Approving Census Law another achievement
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Monthly Monitoring Report of Wolesi Jirga
7. About FEFA: The free and fair election foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) was founded in 2004 by number of civil society leaders and organizations. It’s registered with the ministry of Economy. FEFA contributes to the formation of a peaceful, democratic and well-governed society where all citizens have equal rights and opportunities to participate in the public life of their country.
FEFA’s mission is to:
To promote the integrity of the election process through a non-partisan observation To provide our people, through non-partisan groups a venue for their effective and productive involvement in election and ensures that the process is free, fair, peaceful and orderly. To promote the citizenry’s role by raising their awareness and giving them a sense of responsibility over the social and political processes. To inform the public about the importance of voting, as well as selecting candidates and political parties that represent the national interest. Advocating for political parties to be in character, and, therefore, fully accountable to the people. Providing our people other relevant venues to participant in the promotion of good governance. To promote transparency in conduct of institutions emerging out of democratic elections To inform public of their elected representatives’ conduct in Parliament To increase women and youth’s political participation
FEFA deployed more than 7500 independent observers each time in the past four elections since 2004. It therefore, remains the largest election observation institution in the country. FEFA also deployed long term and short-term international observers to Nepal, Philippine, Bangladesh and other South and South East Asian countries. FEFA is a full member of Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) since 2005.
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