MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. Afghanistan will need a new constitution under the Taliban (outlawed in Russia) authority that will replace the current republican one, Abdul Qader Zazai Watandost, Secretary General of Afghanistan’s lower parliament house, told TASS on Sunday.
"The Taliban reject the current constitution but they don’t have their own one. First of all, they will need a new constitution. But it must be ratified by the Loya Jirga, or the assembly of tribal elders, where all groups of Afghans are represented," he said.
The Taliban said earlier they planned to draft a new constitution after a government was formed.
As for the parliamentary perspectives, Watandost noted that Afghanistan is current in the process of "transition from the republican system to an emirate, which excludes any parliament. However, he did not say definitely whether the legislative body would be dissolved or not.
Speaking about the formation of a Taliban government, he noted that the current delays in this process do not matter much. "Over the twenty years of the republic, we had three elections but sometimes it took up to six months to announce the list of cabinet members. So, it matters little that the Taliban have not yet announced the new government three weeks after they won control of the country," he said, adding that he sees "no problems in the processes underway inside the Taliban during the formation of the cabinet."
"I think a new Taliban government will include representatives of all ethnic groups. It doesn’t matter whether it includes politicians who have been in power for 40 years or not. What matters is that the administration includes professionals and adequate people," Watandost noted.
Touching on the attitudes to the Taliban in Afghanistan, the lawmaker recalled that "the people of Afghanistan has wanted peace and security, as well as social justice for a long time." "In other words, these demands come not just from women and men living in big cities. Everyone in Afghanistan wants it, that is why people in most of the regions support a state the Taliban wants to build," he said.
The United States finished the evacuation of civilians from Kabul and their entire mission in Afghanistan on August 30. The decision to end the US operation in Afghanistan that began in October 2001 and became the longest US overseas campaign in history was announced by President Joe Biden on April 14, 2021. After this decision was announced, the Taliban embarked on an offensive against Afghan government forces. On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance, and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours.
Last week, the Taliban said they were about to announce a new government but the announcement was postponed several times. Now, according to the local mass media, the Taliban are expected for form a cabinet within three days. The process is reportedly hampered by abortive attempts to take control of the Panjshir province, which steadfastly refuses to recognize Taliban authority.