Afghan parliament fails in its one-year performance

New findings suggest that the Afghan parliament has failed in its one-year performance, especially in the area of legislation.

One year has passed since the seventh round of the National Assembly – a period achieved after six months of electoral strife and then a month of the in-house impasse.

Recent findings by the Free and Fair Elections Forum of Afghanistan (FEFA) show that the National Assembly has failed in its one-year performance, including the legislature, the absence of members, and the oversight of government performance.

“Unfortunately, the seventh round has failed in its duties and is contrary to the expectations of people,” said Haseeb Motarif, a researcher at FEFA.

However, Gul Ahmad Noorzad, a member of the House of Representatives, said: “In the current crisis, the whole government has not worked well.”

Based on the findings, most of the meetings of the Afghan Parliament have no quorum for decision-making which has led to ease the passage of major laws and issues.

“Parliament must seriously ask the government to introduce the new cabinet,” said Abdul Baqi Rashid, a member of FEFA.

Meanwhile, the presidential spokesman Sediq Sidiqqi said, “The government is ready to complete the cabinet as soon as possible and introduce it to the parliament.”

However, efforts to coordinate more with the government, to mediate in the political stalemate, to expose corruption in the definitive documents, and having highly educated members, have been cited as the prominent points of the seventh round of the National Assembly.