Eleven new ministers of Afghan cabinet takes oath

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Afghan President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani administered oath to 11 new ministers of the cabinet at the Presidential Palace.

These ministers had recently taken trust vote from the Wolesi Jirga, lower house of the Afghan parliament.

President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdullah Abdullah attended the ceremony.

Tariq Shah Behrami took oath as defence minister, Wais Ahmad Barmak as interior minister, Shehzad Aryubi as telecommunication and information technology minister, Mustafa Mastoor as economy minister, Gul Agha Sherzai as border and tribal affairs minister, Nasir Ahmad Durrani as agriculture, livestock and irrigation minister, Mujibur Rehman Karimi as rural development minister, Muhammad Hamid Tehmasi as transport and civil aviation minister, Dr Najibullah Khawaja Umari as higher education minister, Faizullah Zaki as minister for labor, social affairs, martyrs and disabled and Yama Yari took the oath as public welfare minister.

The ministers pledged to carry out their responsibility as ministers of cabinet of the National Unity Government by supporting the principles of the sacred religion of Islam, following the basic constitution and other laws of Afghanistan and protecting the rights of citizens of the country. They vowed to perform their duties by ensuring independence, territorial integrity and protection of people.

At the conclusion, President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani felicitated the new ministers and lauded the Wolesi Jirga for given them vote of trust. He also lauded the minister of state for parliamentary affairs.

The Afghan government recently introduced 12 nominated ministers to the Wolesi Jirga. The lawmakers gave trust vote to 11 candidates. The only female nominee for the ministry of mining and petroleum, Nargis Nehan could not get vote of trust from the house.

“I hope women would also be able to get trust vote from the parliament in the future so that we could show our determination for the basic constitution comprehensively,” President Ghani said while addressing the oath-taking ceremony.

The president lauded the ministers for accepting the responsibilities in the prevailing circumstances and for giving priority to the interests of the country.

The Afghan government has got vital achievements in five sectors of the foreign politics, President Ghani said. However, in the internal portion people hoped for a working and answer-giving government, he observed.

The people of Afghanistan were realists, he said, adding their hopes should be given response.

Stressing on the implementation of comprehensive reforms, the president said the reforms should be introduced in a wider circle. Everyone should put efforts jointly by performing their duties. It is pertinent to mention here that four ministries, including foreign ministry are currently run by acting ministers.