The Taliban on Tuesday appointed the rest of the members of their government in Afghanistan, almost a score of new ministers and vice ministers, some of them from different ethnic communities and minorities, but without women.
Most of these appointments “were made on the basis of professionalism and merit and will further strengthen the human resources of the Islamic Emirate,” Zabihullah Mujahid, deputy communications minister of the Islamist government and main spokesman for the Taliban, told a news conference.
However, despite repeatedly stating that their objective was an “inclusive” government, among the new ministers, of Commerce or Health, there are only a few representatives of non-Pashtun ethnic groups – the majority of the Taliban – or other minorities, and no women.
Among them are Haji Noor Uddin, the new Minister of Commerce; or Haji Muhammad Bashir and Haji Azim Sultan, vice-ministers of the same office, the three members of the Tajik ethnic group; or Dr. Muhammad Hassan Ghyasi, Second Deputy Minister of Public Health, and belonging to the attacked Hazara minority.
Among the 21 existing portfolios in the Taliban Government, today, in addition to the Minister of Commerce, only the new Minister of Public Health, Dr. Qalandar Ebad, a Pashtun who replaces Wahid Majrooh, the only Minister of the Government, was made known. overthrown who had remained in office.
Likewise, Mullah Sadar Ibrahim was appointed as Vice-Minister of the Interior for Security; Mullah Abdul Qayoom Zakir, as the new Deputy Minister of Defense; and pro-Taliban analyst Nazar Muhammad Mutmaeen, as acting head of the Afghan Olympic Committee, further expanding the Islamists’ quota in power.
The Taliban had already announced on September 7 the main members of their Administration, many of them members of the hard base of the fundamentalist group, with Mullah Hassan Akhund as prime minister.
With this somewhat more “inclusive” government, the Taliban hope that they will soon be able to receive recognition from the international community, which continues to demand guarantees of security and respect for rights and freedoms. “Our Government has provided security and is in control of the entire country, all international requirements for the recognition of a state have been met, it is now the responsibility of the international community to officially recognize us,” the Taliban spokesman said today.
The lack of international recognition keeps Afghanistan and the Taliban not only geopolitically isolated, but also without resources, while international organizations have frozen most of the funds available to the Asian country. At this time Iran, Qatar, Pakistan and some other countries are providing their advice to the Taliban to help them be “officially recognized,” the spokesman said.
The exclusion of women from the Government, and their decline in terms of rights, with restrictions on attending school or work, are part of the concerns of the international community, which is observing attentively without setting a clear position. Thus, although women in the Government were not announced today, Mujahid assured that in the future “they will appoint women to some positions” and that they are working to “soon open” secondary schools for girls.
The spokesperson insisted that they are “committed to women’s rights”, but that they need more time to develop “some regulations and norms for them.”
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