KABUL - The Wolesi Jirga or lower house of Parliament on Monday approved a presidential legislative decree on creating the State Ministry on Peace Affairs, but some lawmakers said the decree was in conflict with the Constitution.
The president during a legislative decree on June 29 created the State Ministry on Peace Affairs and Abdul Salam Rahimi was appointed as minister.
Sayed Hassan Sharifi Balkhabi, head of judiciary commission of Wolesi Jirga, told today’s session that 10 commissions of the house had approved the decree while five others opposed it during joint meetings.
He said creating State Ministry on Peace Affairs was aimed at responding to peace related issues. He said the peace process had entered an important stage and an independent and responsive institution was needed to manage the process.
However, a number of lawmakers said that the legislative decree was in conflict with the constitution.
Fatima Kohistani, a lawmaker from Badghis province, said that the president had no authority to release legislative decrees which required financial resources and he only could release such decrees when the lower house was on recess.
She said that Wolesi Jirga was not on recess when the decree was released.
Article 79 of the constitution says, “During the recess of the House of Representatives, the Government shall, in case of an immediate need, issue legislative decrees, except in matters related to budget and financial affairs.
Legislative decrees, after endorsement by the President, shall acquire the force of law. Legislative decrees shall be presented to the National Assembly within thirty days of convening its first session, and if rejected by the National Assembly, they become void.”
Kohistani said that the president violated the constitution by issuing the decree and lawmakers should not approve it.
“State Ministry on Peace Affairs will not improve the situation of the country, but it would even keep the country in war for another decade,” she said.
Ghulam Hussain Naseri, a lawmaker from Kabul, also said that creation of the ministry would be an addition to existing organizations and would not help reduce the country problems.
“The High Peace Council (HPC) is currently active in peace affairs so there is no need for creation of State Ministry on Peace Affairs,” he said.
He and a number of other lawmakers said the decree was in violation of articles 79, 64 and 90 of the constitution.
The paragraph 20 of the article 64 of the constitution says, “The president shall have the authority to establish commissions to improve the administration of the country in accordance with the provisions of the law.”
Paragraph four of the same article says that creating administrative units and their revocation were the jobs of the parliament.
However, Ghulam Faroq Nazari, a lawmaker from Herat province, said that creating State Ministry on Peace Affairs in current situation of the country was a critical need.
“If you say it is against the law, the creation of national unity government was also against the law,” he said.
He said creation of the ministry would pave the way for peace and it would be responsible to the parliament unlike the HPC.
The decree was finally put for vote. Of 148 lawmakers present, 132 voted in favor of the decree while the rest voted against it. (Pajhwok)