5 Cabinet picks present plans before Wolesi Jirga

KABUL, promising to combat corruption and ensure merit-based recruitment.

The Cabinet nominees included Tariq Shah Bahrami, President Ghani’s choice for the Ministry of Defense (MoD), Wais Ahmad Barmak, the Ministry of Interior (MoI), Faizullah Zaki, the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disable (MoLSAMD), Nargis Nehan, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MMP), Mohammad Hamid Tahmasi, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (MTCA)

They presented their future plans to the Wolesi Jirga after they were officially introduced for a vote of confidence by the government on Saturday.

Tariq Shah Bahrami told the assembly he would organize and strengthen the Defense Ministry’s planning and logistics and prevent every kind of prejudice in the army’s ranks.

Employing professional individuals, fighting corruption and bringing about reforms in the MoD procurement system were his other future plans if he was granted the vote of confidence.

Meanwhile, Wais Ahmad Barmak described reforms and enforcing law and justice by police as one of his top priorities. “Still graft, embezzlement, and political influence exist in police ranks and are huge challenges for MoI.” He said he would develop a system for reducing corruption and turning Kabul province into a secure zone.

On the other hand, Faizullah Zaki promised paving the ground for training of newly graduates and implementing labour law. He also stated that reforms and fighting corruption and brining transparency were his future programmes.

Nargis Nehan called lack of capacity and declining revenue from mines as main challenge of the ministry, saying if she got the trust vote, she would increase revenues and introduce Afghanistan as a country having valuable natural resources.

Mohammad Hamid Tahmasi said if he managed to become minister he would work on reviewing the MTCA’s cadre and workforce formation strategy and would sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreements with neighboring countries on facilitating transportation.

These five individuals are part of the 12 ministers-designate introduced to the Wolesi Jirga on November 25.

It is set that a ballot box will be placed at Wolesi Jirga for polling on Monday after all the 12 ministers-designate submitted their plans.

sns /ma

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