Parliament

KABUL (PAN): The Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of Parliament, on Wednesday adopted the amended electoral law with some further amendments after a long-lasting debate.

KABUL (PAN): Despite fund shortage, treatment of drug addicts would be increased from the current six percent to 48 percent over next four years, an official told the upper house on Tuesday.
Nearly one million people in Afghanistan are addicted to drugs. Of them, 12 percent are addicted to heroin, 25 percent to opium and the rest use other types of drugs.

KABUL (PAN): The Meshrano Jirga or upper house of parliament on Sunday condemned Thursday’s suicide attack in Kabul and asked the government to take elaborate security measures to prevent such attacks in future.
The car suicide blast ripped through a convoy of foreign troops in Shah Shaeed locality in the 8th police district of Kabul, killing six foreign soldiers and injuring 42 others, including nine civilians.

KABUL (PAN): Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) Governor Noorullah Dilawari on Saturday linked the afghani’s decline to unlawful cash transfers from the country and a global economic slowdown.
Summoned by the lower house to explain reasons for the local currency’s fall, Dilawari said the US dollar had been witnessing a worldwide increase in its value. Against other currencies, however, the afghani remained stable, he insisted.

KABUL (PAN): Some Wolesi Jirga members on Saturday said several articles of the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law ran counter to the Afghan constitution and Shariah.
The draft law, having four chapters and 44 articles, was prepared under presidential decree of 2009 before being sent to the lower house for approval.

KABUL (PAN): Six Wolesi Jirga members on Wednesday spurned as groundless allegations of illegal activities against them and asked the government to put Finance Minister Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal on the exit control list until the charges were investigated.

KABUL (PAN): The Senate on Wednesday gave Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal an appreciation letter for exposing the Wolesi Jirga members involved in smuggling and seeking favours from the government.
On Monday, Zakhilwal revealed the names of several lawmakers who he accused of smuggling and making illegal demands on the government.

KABUL (PAN): Members of the Wolesi Jirga, during a debate on a draft poll law, on Wednesday differed on conditions for parliamentary and provincial council candidates.
Article 10 of the proposed law, having 17 chapters and 66 articles, states a candidate for the presidency should have a bachelor’s degree. Article 11, Wolesi Jirga candidates must be 12th graders and former members of the parliament.

KABUL (PAN): Wolesi Jirga member Samiullah Samim on Tuesday suggested a special tribunal be established to investigate Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal’s allegations against him and five other parliamentarians.
A day earlier, Zakhilwal revealed the names of the lawmakers he had earlier accused of smuggling and making illegal demands on the government.

KABUL (PAN): Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal on Monday revealed the names of the lawmakers he had earlier accused of smuggling and making illegal demands on the government.
Speaking in the Wolesi Jirga, Zakhilwal said MP from Kandahar Hameedzai Lalai had demanded licence plates for 1,970 right-hand drive vehicles. There is a ban a number plates for such vehicles under a cabinet decision.