Atta Noor changes tack, mulls interim government

Former Balkh governor and politician Atta Mohammad Noor said he has recently started considering the option of an interim government which he said could help resolve the current crisis.

He said he only recently started thinking about this as an option and only after President Ashraf Ghani’s move to summarily dismiss the health minister Jawad Ahmad Osmani.

Noor says he now thinks an interim government could be an option to consider.

Speaking at a gathering in Balkh province Noor said if there is indeed a plan in place for an interim government people should not oppose it.

“Now we need to recommend such a plan (interim government), or if such a plan exists, then we should not oppose it but further develop it for the sake of national unity, social justice and political justice,” said Noor.

Noor said this after accusing Ghani of not fulfilling his promises.

“From the umbrella of tyranny, the dictatorship of those who are not bound by any principle nor word, indeed, or in commitment and we must give a heavy answer,” Noor said.

Noor’s reaction comes after Osmani was sacked from his post as public health minister by Ghani last week.

At the time Noor called it a “hasty and insulting” decision and warned of possible consequences.

Osmani said after his dismissal he was asked by Ghani to step down but he refused to do so.

On Wednesday Noor said: “There are many ways to threaten and fight, as soon as the president loses a political ally, it is a threat in itself, a very big response.

“A heavy response does not mean going to war, we are neither terrorists nor anti-regime, but we are against the President’s extralegal methods,” Noor added.

Questions were raised last week over the legitimacy of President Ashraf Ghani’s move to fire public health minister Ahmad Jawad Osmani but the Presidential Palace (ARG) was quick to state the president has the authority to dismiss senior government officials as he sees fit.

Osmani was fired after a number of public health ministry officials were arrested on charges of corruption.