Taliban dissolve parliament in Afghanistan
Four additional government agencies have been eliminated as the cash-strapped administration faces a $500 million budget deficit.
- Taliban dissolve parliament in Afghanistan.
An Afghan media report stated that the Taliban have dissolved various public institutions in Afghanistan, including both chambers of parliament and the National Security Council.
The dissolution was announced on Monday by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and signed by acting Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund, according to the Khaama Press news agency.
According to the study, the Taliban also dissolved the High Council for National Reconciliation, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission, and the Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution due to a budget shortage.
On Saturday, the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan announced its first annual budget since taking power in August. According to Taliban authorities, the national budget will be entirely funded using local resources, resulting in a $500 million fiscal deficit.
The ascent of the Taliban to power resulted in the demise of the US-backed civilian administration and huge evacuations. Foreign assets of the country were frozen.
Several governments and organizations have refused to work with the movement in power. Since then, the Afghan people have been experiencing a worsening economic catastrophe.
Moreover, the UN World Food Program (WFP) announced that almost half of the Afghan population is facing acute hunger, with more than 20,000 people in the Ghor province nearing a food security catastrophe.
In a statement, the WFP highlighted that "[Some] 19.7 million people, almost half of Afghanistan’s population, are facing acute hunger according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis conducted in January and February 2022 by Food Security and Agriculture Cluster partners."
The report noted the existence of a small pocket of "catastrophic" levels of food insecurity in the country.