Afghanistan Times
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AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: After the recent decision by the Wolesi Jirga, the National Assembly, on canceling the authority of provincial council members to oversee local offices, hundreds of residents of western Herat province slammed the decision and urged the parliament house to call off its decision.
The protestors were gathered in front of the governor’s house on Sunday.
They criticized the Wolesi Jirga for taking the decision, and claimed that the house has come up with the conclusion for their personal interests.
Member of Herat provincial council, Habiburrahman Pidram, said that supervising the activities of the government or local offices is the legal right of the provincial council or else the council has no value. He termed the decision as injustice against civilians, and said that Heratis (residents of Herat) would prolong their protests if their suggestion was not taken into account.
Massouda Karokhi, a woman member of Herat provincial council, termed the decision against the Constitution, and said the previous members of the provincial councils in all provinces were monitoring activities of public offices based on a decree issued during the tenure of the former President Hamid Karzai.
She added that the provincial council members have sometimes used this right for their personal interests but it does not mean to ban this authority.
Spokesman for the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), Tawab Ghorzang, said they have received instructions from President Ashraf Ghani, and were working on plans to come up with best solutions for the issue.
He prodded provincial council members to continue their activities as the government would overcome the problems soon.
