Election commissions shut down by Taliban-run govt
ISLAMABAD/ KABUL: The Taliban dissolved Afghanistan’s two election commissions as well as the state ministries for peace and parliamentarian affairs, an official said on Sunday.
Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for the government, said the country’s independent election commission and electoral complaint commission have been dissolved.
He called them “unnecessary institutes for the current situation in Afghanistan.” He said if there is a need for the commissions in the future, the Taliban government can revive them.
Both elections commissions were mandated to administer and supervise all types of elections in the country, including presidential, parliamentary and provincial council elections.
Karimi said the Taliban also dissolved the ministry for peace and the ministry of parliamentarian affairs. He said they were unnecessary ministries in the government’s current structure.
New decree for women Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Sunday that women seeking to travel anything other than short distances should not be offered transport unless they are accompanied by a close male relative.
The guidance, issued by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, also called on all vehicle owners to offer rides only to those women wearing Islamic hijabs.
“Women travelling for more than 45 miles (72km) should not be offered a ride if they are not accompanied by a close family member,” ministry spokesman Sadeq Akif Muhajir told AFP on Sunday, specifying that it must be a close male relative.
Muhajir said Sunday that the hijab would also be required for women seeking transport. The ministry’s directive also asked people to stop playing music in their vehicles.