KABUL (Pajhwok): First deputy chief executive officer, Eng. Mohammad Khan, says the national unity government has achieved little since its formation six months ago, calling on the two leaders to end this problem at the earliest.
Khan told Pajhwok Afghan News during an exclusive interview on Saturday that the unity government was a new experiment in Afghanistan and the region and a rare example seen in the world.
The unity government, which had resulted from a political agreement, represented all Afghans, he said, acknowledging problems in the government, which he said would take some time to resolve.
He said the chief executive position was newly created and it would reveal later how much power the president bestowed on it.
“I don’t defend the unity government for its failure to get done some works because six months were enough time to have done many things what the government did not do.”
However, Khan said though little was achieved during the past six months on domestic level, yet many achievements were made during the period on international front.
He said the international community’s trust in the Afghanistan government had increased and was on further increase. A new chapter in relations with Arab nations has opened and an atmosphere of trust developed with Pakistan, he said.
The first deputy CEO said problems like incomplete cabinet, running affairs in provinces by acting governors and other departments being headed by acting officials remained.
Khan confirmed differences on some issues between the CEO and the Presidential Palace existed. In this regard, he cited disagreement over the leaderships of the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Defence, the army chief and the new-created electoral reforms commission.
He said there were other issues as well, which he said needed to be jointly addressed. “We don’t have a clear answer to give it to the masses on these issues,” Khan admitted.
Six persons, the president and his two deputies and the CEO and his two deputies, were responsible to manage the country’s administration, said Mohammad Khan, urging the two sides to end problems stemming from their differences like incomplete cabinet and others in order to steer the country out of the ambiguous situation.
He suggested the two sides should find experienced persons to be appointed as ministers and on other key posts in consultations with each other.
About budget for the CEO offices, Mohammad Khan said the Wolesi Jirga had not yet approved the budget, but they received some funds in compliance with a presidential decree issued in this regard to cover the expenses.
He said they had been providing salaries to 30 low-ranking staff members like guards, drivers and others from their own pockets for several months.
About complaints from former jihadi veterans like Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf and Ismail Khan about not giving mujahideen enough representation in the cabinet, Mohammad Khan said their complaints were only justifiable from security perspective.
He added one million people had sacrificed their lives in the armed resistance against the Russian invasion and the communist regime and now giving security ministries to those having killed mujahideen was not appropriate.
Giving the key ministries to such individuals would not favour the prevailing circumstance, Khan said, but named no one.
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