KABUL (Pajhwok): Publishing a bill reinstating supervisory role of the provincial councils in its official gazette, the government on Sunday said the councils’ supervision role would help improve governance, fight against corruption and resolve local disputes.
The bill in three chapters and 11 articles was approved by the Cabinet on January 4, 2017 before it was signed into law by the president on March 1 and then published in the official gazette.
Sayed Ahmad Khamosh, head of the local councils integration office at the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), told a meeting organized for introduction of the bill, said the bill was finalized with close consultations with provincial council members.
He said suggestions and ideas from provincial councils’ members had been incorporated in the bill and the supervisory role of the provincial councils had been clearly defined in the councils’ law.
The Wolesi Jirga or lower house denied supervisory role to the provincial councils with a majority vote in 2014.
However, the government decided to give back the role to provincial council following widespread protests by the councils.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah, who also attended the meeting, said that the provincial councils’ supervisory role was a step forwards in making system and the country sovereign and stable.
He said the bill opened new doors to reforms and said its implementation would help resolve all problems on provincial levels and bring a positive change to local governance.
Abdullah called provincial council members a bridge connecting people with the government and said: “The enforcement of Provincial Councils Supervisory bill would boost good governance and reduce problems.”
“The authorities given to provincial councils in this bill should not be deemed as small and the council members should distinguish between interference and supervision for good results”, he said.
The CEO said central and local departments should be held accountable about their performance in addressing people’s sensible demands.
Parwan provincial council head, Ghulam Bahauddin Jailani, criticized what he said ‘little authorities’ given to provincial councils in the bill and said: “This bill has problems and may increase corruption in government offices if implemented.”
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