KABUL - Political commentators have said that the rift between the two leaders of the National Unity Government affected governance in the country over the past two years – particularly relating to appointment of high-ranking officials.
The political agreement which laid the foundation of the present government under President Ashraf Ghani and his CEO Abdullah Abdullah states that appointments in government institutions need to be carried out in harmony between the two leaders.
But, reports indicate that the two officials have been caught up in serious disagreements over the appointments in the past two years.
The CEO's office has said that the president's disinterest in adhering to the agreement and in not consulting with his CEO over appointments of individuals to government bodies has significantly overshadowed their relations, an issue that also delayed work from being carried out according to timelines.
These comments come just five days ahead of the NUG's two year anniversary.
The political agreement on the basis of which the NUG was formed stresses that the president and the chief executive should work together when making appointments in the legal, judicial and local government institutions so that they can keep a balance in the sharing of power, something the CEO's office says was not done properly.
Initially signs of disagreements between the president and the CEO appeared over the nomination of cabinet ministers, however the disagreements hit new heights after the president took a unilateral step and announced the appointment of Nadir Nadiri as head of the independent administrative reforms and civil service institute and Ahmad Yousaf Nuristani, former head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) as Afghan ambassador to the Spain.
"We diverted from the track we were supposed to walk on, disagreements over the appointments have roots in personal and party agendas, I believe that the monopolist circle inside the ARG (presidential palace) tries to move all programs towards their desired direction and without consulting the people," said political analyst Asif Ashna.
There is a perception that the continuation of differences between the president and the CEO have left remarkable impacts on the governance in the country and these issues hinder the implementation of work on government projects.
"I think underestimating the items of the political agreement while making the appointments have increased people's dissatisfaction, this also led to strong criticism by the chief executive when he accused the presidential palace of monopolization," said political analyst Ainuddin Begzada.
"There has been problems in this respect sometimes over the past two years, consultations did not take place on the basis of the political agreement, the issue also undermined work to be done by the government appropriately," said deputy spokesman to CEO Jawed Faisal.
Many believe that the rift between NUG leaders left the government posts to be run by the caretakers, something the analysts argue have harmed the governance. (Tolonews)