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Houses of Parliament issue joint declaration in support of Republic system
The Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) and the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament) on Monday jointly declared their support for the country’s Republic system, the Constitution, freedom of expression, women’s rights and government’s security forces.
Their declaration came after a special session that was addressed by President Ashraf Ghani who called on all MP’s and Senators to mobilize the people to stand against the Taliban.
In their declaration, both houses stated that the achievements made over the past 20 years must not be lost and pledged to stand by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and to work together to help resolve the crisis.
The declaration also appealed to the Taliban to join the peace process.
In addition, the two houses called on the United Nations and other international organizations to continue their financial and political support to Afghanistan and to assist in the peace process.
“We support all peace efforts,” the declaration stated.
The lawmakers also announced their firm support to the Afghan defense and security forces “who sacrifice their lives for the nation.”
“We call on the Taliban and other armed opposition groups to stop further violence and make peace,” the declaration read.
The statement implied however that the accelerated withdrawal process of foreign troops was unrealistic and had put pressure on the system.
“This process not only did not lead to peace, but also legitimized an aggressor and evil group and tried to delegitimize the united Republic. This process raised doubts. It created ambiguity and its product is the situation you see,” the declaration stated.
The declaration was issued after Ghani’s address which saw him appealing to all parliament members to come out in support of government and country.
Ghani told MPs and Senators “to use their contacts and mobilize the people” to stand against the Taliban.
He also called on MPs to unite and to reach a unanimous agreement over securing government in order for it to survive.
Ghani said at the joint session “I am with you today for a reason that we need to start a national dialogue”.
Ghani said “our priority is to achieve lasting peace, but I see sedition in the Taliban. For those who whitewash this and say that the Taliban have changed, I repeat to them that they have become more violent and more mercenary in oppression.”
Ghani said he believes the Taliban has no will for last peace but that a concise military plan has been drawn up to cover the next six months in order to suppress the Taliban.
“All preparations have been made to repel this wave of sedition for the next six months in order to restore stability. An important element of this plan, along with government forces, is the mobilization of public forces,” he said.
He also said despite the group’s promise to the US to cut ties with terrorist organizations, this has not been done.
Ghani said the Taliban has instead strengthened ties with such groups.
Ghani told MPs he would “not kneel before any destructive force. We either sit on our knees at the negotiating table or break their knees on the battlefield.”
The Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan announced on Friday that the country has allocated $19.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
In a statement, the Japanese Embassy said it hopes the aid will help bring positive change to the lives of vulnerable Afghans.
According to the statement, the assistance will cover the basic humanitarian needs of vulnerable communities in Afghanistan.
The embassy added that the aid will be delivered through United Nations agencies, international organizations, and Japanese non-governmental organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Japan’s total assistance to Afghanistan since August 2021 has reached more than $549 million.
Security forces at the Islam Qala border in Herat province prevented hundreds of young Afghans from illegally entering Iran.
Officials from the 207 Al-Farooq Army Corps said that around 530 people attempted over the past two days to illegally enter Iranian territory through areas of Kohsan district in Herat, but border forces detained them and transferred them back to their original areas.
Meanwhile, officials in the local administration of Herat said that due to severe cold along the illegal migration route to Iran, three Afghan migrants have lost their lives in the Kohsan district of the province, and a shepherd has also died there for the same reason.
Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, spokesperson for the Herat governor’s office, said that some statistics and images shared on social media regarding the incident are not reliable.
According to him, further investigations are underway to determine whether any individuals have died on the other side of the border.
President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery program on Thursday that allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X that, at Trump’s direction, she is ordering the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the program, the Associated Press reported.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she said of the suspect, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente.
Neves Valente, 48, is suspected in the shootings at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, and the killing of an MIT professor. He was found dead Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
Neves Valente had studied at Brown on a student visa beginning in 2000, according to an affidavit from a Providence police detective. In 2017, he was issued a diversity immigrant visa and months later obtained legal permanent residence status, according to the affidavit. It was not immediately clear where he was between taking a leave of absence from the school in 2001 and getting the visa in 2017.
The diversity visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the U.S., many of them in Africa. The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges.
Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 visa lottery, with more than 131,000 selected when including spouses with the winners. After winning, they must undergo vetting to win admission to the United States. Portuguese citizens won only 38 slots.
Lottery winners are invited to apply for a green card. They are interviewed at consulates and subject to the same requirements and vetting as other green-card applicants.
Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery. Noem’s announcement is the latest example of using tragedy to advance immigration policy goals. After an Afghan man was identified as the gunman in a fatal attack on National Guard members in November, Trump’s administration imposed sweeping rules against immigration from Afghanistan and other counties.
While pursuing mass deportation, Trump has sought to limit or eliminate avenues to legal immigration. He has not been deterred if they are enshrined in law, like the diversity visa lottery, or the Constitution, as with a right to citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear his challenge to birthright citizenship.
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