Some Political Parties in the previous administration criticized the Ministry of Justice’s decision to ban political parties’ activity in the nation. Party leaders said that political parties are essential for the nation and they urged the current government to not hinder their activities. Salim Paigir, the chairman of the Afghanistan Intellectual Committed Party and a political activist who founded his party over eight years ago, is concerned about the Ministry of Justice’s decision to ban parties.
“Parties are an absolute necessity in society. If the Minister of Justice was not a member of Tehreek or the Taliban party, he would not be the Minister of Justice today,” Paigir noted.
“In modern period, society cannot advance without parties. They must go toward a dictatorship whenever there is just one party,” said Moeen Gul Samkani, head of Haq aw Adalat Party. This comes as, the Ministry of Justice said on Wednesday that no party in the nation will be permitted to participate in political activity. The acting Minister of Justice, Abdul Hakim Sharai, reiterated that he will not let any person or group run political parties in the nation. “This is not based on Sharia, does not preserve national interests, and people do not want it, so how reasonable is it for us to give permission for this. It is completely banned clause and we do not give permission for it in any way,” Sharai noted.
According to lawyers, the activities of parties are significant and underlined that parties can more effectively oversee government affairs.
However, political analysts have different views about banning the activities of political parties. “Political parties monitor the actions of the government, political parties can criticize the government, and political parties can make the government realize that the actions it is taking are not in the interest of society,” said Abdul Shakur Dadras, a lawyer. This comes as, the former government’s Ministry of Justice granted 73 political parties in Afghanistan a permit to operate. However, many of these parties’ leaders have since moved to other countries and are living there. —Agency
