Following remarks by the First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum where he accused President Ashraf Ghani of nepotism, the Presidential Palace (ARG) on Tuesday said the statement made by Dostum is in contravention of his position and is uncalled for in the current situation in the country.
The Presidential Palace said in a statement that the accusations made by Dostum against a number of government officials need to be reviewed.
ARG said in the statement that government is responsible for addressing citizens’ complaints against the Taliban and other forces involved in clashes so as to assess whether crimes have been committed.
Dostum on Monday accused Ghani of nepotism and said people from the president’s ethnic group are important to him, but those from his province are even more important.
“If you speak Pashto with President [Ashraf Ghani], you will be a good person, and if you speak Pashto and you are from Logar [province], then you are very good,” he said at a press conference in Jawzjan on Monday.
Meanwhile, Ghani’s special envoy for reform and good governance, Ahmad Zia Massoud, at a gathering in Panjshir province accused government of nepotism and politicizing the state organizations.
“What is good in this that I am in government as a Tajik and I bring all Tajiks to government. This creates a reaction. And what is good in this that our Pashtun brother is head of government and then he appoints all Pashtuns in government offices. This is not good and it creates reaction from other ethnic groups,” he said.
“Government has also taken a stance against Mr. Dostum. When the presidential palace says that alongside the Taliban we will also investigate those who committed war crimes it means that all those groups involved in war including the Taliban, police, local police and public uprising forces and even forces under the command of Mr. Dostum are among them,” said political analyst Sayed Nasir Musavi.
“The basic and survival of the government was eliminated with the emergence of national unity government, because the president has pushed all things to the sidelines and he has monopolized power and he politically deals with lower issues,” said university lecturer Hekmatullah Shahbaz.
Critics said they believe that the country will descend further into crisis if the NUG leaders don’t resolve their issues.
Tamil Hamid, Tolonews