Afghan President nominated ministers for his new cabinet
13 January, 2015
KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani nominated ministers for his new cabinet on Monday, after a wait of more than three months, to try to establish a working government to tackle the violence-racked country’s problems.
Many government institutions have been all-but-paralyzed for a year amid a drawn-out election crisis and uncertainty over whether the withdrawal of most foreign combat troops last month will lead to more violence by Taliban insurgents. Ghani’s chief of staff announced the 25 cabinet nominees at a ceremony attended by Ghani, who did not speak.
“The government will refer them to the parliament for a vote of confidence,” Ghani chief of staff Abdul Salam Rahimi said, but did not say when the confirmation vote might come.
The president and his election rival-turned-government partner Abdullah Abdullah have spent months wrangling over the makeup of the new cabinet, raising worries over whether their unity government could survive, let alone govern effectively.
Ghani was sworn into office on Sept. 29 after forming a power-sharing deal with Abdullah, who accused him of winning through fraud. The tense election standoff dragged on for months before the breakthrough.
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