Ghani’s cabinet loses Afghan Parliament tes

Kabul, January 28

Afghan lawmakers today rejected most of President Ashraf Ghani’s nominees for the new cabinet, in a fresh setback for the newly formed “national unity government”.

The lower house of parliament voted on 18 of Ghani’s 25 selections for ministerial jobs and rejected 10 of them including the proposed defence minister.

Those who won approval included Salahuddin Rabbani, the former head of the Peace Council and nominee for foreign affairs minister, and Noorul Haq Ulumi, the nominee for interior minister.

The proposed new cabinet was unveiled on January 12, after three months of wrangling following last year’s bitterly disputed presidential election.

It was meant to create a “unity government” agreed in a power-sharing deal between Ghani and his presidential poll rival Abdullah Abdullah.

That deal, hammered out after tortuous negotiations, was seen as saving Afghanistan from the risk of civil war, after both men claimed victory in last year’s fraud-tainted election.

Those rejected included Sher Mohammad Karim, the current army chief of staff and nominee for defence minister, and Khatera Afghan, Ghani’s choice for minister of higher education. — AFP