KABUL (SW) – President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Friday inaugurated the newly-elected parliament in presence of top government officials, but without the representatives of Kabul province.
CEO Abdullah Abdullah and a number of other government officials were present on the occasion. Since the final results for Kabul are not announced yet therefore no MPs from the capital city and surrounding districts attended this session.
Addressing the maiden session of the Wolesi Jirga (lower house), President Ghani said final deadline should be set for the Kabul results. He emphasized the parliament should perform its duties in close coordination with all three pillars of the state. Vowing to respect the decisions by the WJ, he said the past mistakes should not be repeated.
The President said the government is committed and determined to stand by its peace strategy, and would not indulge in talks or deals without the approval of the parliament. He termed the parliament as parts of the peace strategy, and stressed the ownership of peace process means the public representatives do not remain in dark.
He vowed to put an end to the 40-year of war, and called for active role of the parliament in the peace process.
The President said success of the peace process lies in unity, strength of the security forces, presence of women and approval of the parliament.
In his speech, Ghani underlined the importance of the democratic system, and added he would continue to serve as president till fresh polls. “Every time start from the zero point is disgrace and surrender to the enemy”, he said. The President said those spreading vagueness and mistrust in regard to the Constitution are no less than those seeking to topple the whole system. “I tell them from this public platform that the ‘era of Coup d'état is over’.
Based on the law, the new session of the parliament should have been inaugurated months ago. The term of the previous MPs ended three years back before polls were held in October.
Interim speaker of the house, Atta Mohammad Dehqanpur, stressed the MPs are committed to respect the law, national interest and service to the masses. He also urged the warring sides to ceasefire in the month of Ramadan.
ENDS
