After months of delays and missed deadlines, the Afghan government finally unveiled its full list of Cabinet nominees.
Abdul Salaam Rahimi, chief of staff for President Ashraf Ghani, announced the list of 25 Cabinet nominees Monday, as well as nominees for director of the Afghan intelligence service and governor of the central bank.
Salahuddin Rabbani, the former head of the country’s high peace council, is nominated for foreign minister, Sher Mohammad Karimi, the military chief of staff, is nominated for defense minister and a former general Noor-ur-Haq Ulomi is nominated for interior minister. Current intelligence chief Rahmatullah Nabil is nominated to retain his position.
The 25 Cabinet nominees include three women - nominated to head the ministries of information and culture, women’s affairs and higher education. All nominees must now receive approval from the parliament.
Ghani was inaugurated in late September as part of a unity government with main rival Abdullah Abdullah. He quickly fired his entire Cabinet, and the three-month delay in naming their replacements has spawned public anxiety and anger toward his young government. Ghani repeatedly appealed to his citizens for patience while at the same time blowing through numerous self-imposed deadlines. Critics have asserted that the Afghan Taliban has used the ensuing vacuum and the perception of governmental weakness to regroup and regain momentum.
Elsewhere in the country, a police commander and two officers were killed by a roadside bomb.
Ghulam Jilani Farahi, the deputy police chief for Zabul province, said that the bomb explosion killed Khan Mohammad, police chief for the Mizan district, along with his two police bodyguards around 10 a.m. Monday morning.
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