President Ashraf Ghani officially inaugurated the 17th legislative term of the Afghan Lower House of parliament (Wolesi Jirga) on Friday.

In his opening speech, Ghani expressed regret over the 33 seats for Kabul province that remain vacant in the 250-seat of the Afghan parliament.

Ghani said that the government did not have any role in the delay of parliament inauguration.

He added that the current challenges in the country are because of “imposed war” which has been fueled by “direct foreign support” of the Taliban.

The parliamentary elections were held on October 20, 2018.