Government Urged to Convene Loya Jirga

The Council for Protection and Stability in Afghanistan has urged the government to convene the constitutional Loya Jirga as solution for the crisis as the country is facing.

 Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday in Kabul, the Spokesman of the council, Massoud Trushtwal said that the security situation in the country is “critical and fragile” therefore, the government should convene the constitutional Loya Jirga.  

However, the President’s Office said that in the current situation, holding Loya Jirga is not possible. 

“The constitution of Afghanistan has defined Loya Jirga that include the members of provincial councils,” said the President’s Office Deputy Spokesman, Dawa Khan Minapal. “The government will act [in regard] after the provincial councils’ elections.”

Trushtwal, meanwhile, claimed that the government attempts to delay the next year’s parliamentary and provincial councils’ elections by provoking ethnic tensions and banishing politicians for various reasons.  

The concerns over possible delay in next year’s elections come as two days earlier, the Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA) said that the government has no will and reform plan to hold the parliamentary and councils’ elections.