| A sign of widespread and unexpected prosperity...at least among the legislative ranks. Or possibly a strong distrust that such prosperity and opportunities will be available in the future. After all, look what happened when the Russians left. |
| Just because they left on a Hajj doesn't mean they have to be let back in... |
Executive director of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) Jandad Spinghar told TOLOnews that the absence of the parliament members has slowed down necessary legislation.
"The legislation process has been delayed," he said Tuesday, adding that the rules of the Houses should not have allowed this to happen.
"There is a need to supervise the government activity and summon some officials over this. Regretfully now the lack of presence is the main problem. The rules of procedure of the House need to be corrected -- it should be fixed to put pressure on parliament members to be present."
Senator Daoud Ehsas said that about 20 senators went to Mecca including the Head of the Senate and the upper house's Second Deputy.
Afghanistan's Ministry of Hajj and Islamic Affairs claimed that according to the Afghan Embassy in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
, at least 100 parliamentarians have gone to Hajj.
"We got some information from the Afghan Embassy in Saudi Arabia that about hundred representatives from the Parliament and Senate went to Hajj with personal visas," acting Minister Daeeul Haq Abid said.
Lawmakers who remained in Kabul have criticised their colleagues for failing to fulfill their professional responsibilities, saying they should not receive their salary.
"There is no need to go Hajj in essential situations," Balkh MP Mohammad Abdo said. "Those who are not fulfilling their responsibilities correctly, their salary is haraam [sinful]."
The parliamentary commission for the safety of MPs responded to claims that the parliament should be monitoring both official and unofficial trips of the politicians, saying that they are investigating.
"It is not clear so far -- we are researching the issue and then will share with the media," commission member Farkhonda Zahra Nadri told TOLOnews.
However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt...
she conceded that the situation of the suspended parliament was not acceptable.
"This is really worrying. Hopefully it will not become a custom," she said.
Some politicians claim that their colleagues have been funded by the Ministry of Hajj and that they have gone to Mecca for the fourth or fifth time.
In Islam, the religious pilgrimage to Mecca is only obligatory once in a lifetime by those who can afford to do so.
Religious scholars Sayed Mohammad Hassan Sharif Balkhabi said that the religious oblation or sacrifice represented by making the pilgrimage is not greater than the oblation of fulfilling ones responsibilities.
"These representatives, instead of going to Hajj, should do their responsibility; it has more oblation," he told TOLOnews.
Some politicians suggested that their colleagues went more for recreation or tourism more than for making a holy pilgrimage.
The lower and upper houses are not likely to reconvene until next week after the Eid al-Adha holidays end on Sunday.