Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

MPs Call Karzai’s Reform Plan ‘Ridiculous’

MPs Call Karzai’s Reform Plan ‘Ridiculous’

KABUL - Afghan lawmakers on Saturday called President Hamid Karzai's plan for sweeping reforms "ridiculous" and "deceiving."
Mr Karzai on Friday issued a decree setting out measures to curb corruption. He is under pressure from international donors to curb the rampant corruption that riddles his administration at every level. At a recent conference in Tokyo, donors pledged $16 billion in aid for Afghanistan but demanded that it be tied to a new monitoring mechanism to prevent the money being stolen by government officials or misused.
Lawmakers said that if Mr Karzai was serious about fighting corruption and introducing government reforms, he should have started from the presidential palace.

Parliamentarians derided the decree saying it will not benefit Afghanistan unless he sacks corrupt minister and officials.
"If Karzai is committed to fighting corruption, he should decrease the number of his advisors. We condemn the decree. He is trying to deceive the people," Farah MP Mohammad Sarwar Osmani said during Saturday's parliamentary session.

"This decree is really ridiculous and funny; such decrees will not help bring reform or help anti-corruption efforts," Badakhshan MP Fauzia Kofi said.
Several other parliamentarians blamed each other for corruption and for making deals with Afghan government officials.

hey said anti-corruption efforts should begin from within parliament and traitors should be exposed.
"If parliamentarians are committed, they should start combatting corruption from inside parliament," Sar-e Pul MP Sayed Mohammad Sharif Balkhabi said.

Separately, several other MPs raised concerns over violence in the country.
"Insecurity in Wardak province has reached its peak; we condemn the carelessness of the government in this regard," Maidan Wardak MP Ghulam Hussain Naseri said.

"The Ministry of Interior is dismissing professional officials and bringing in under-qualified people they have personal relations with," Jawzjan MP Enayatullah Farahmand said.
MPs also warned the government that more protests are likely if insecurity and chaos persist. (Tolo News)