A large number of Faryab residents took to the streets on Monday, April 26, to protest against the appointment of Mohammad Dawood as governor of the province.
The protesters have taken to the streets to express their dissatisfactions against the arbitrary decision made the presidential palace, said Enayatullah Babur Farahmand, deputy chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) and a member of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan (NIMA) – led by Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum.
Mr. Farahmand said in a Facebook post that they were protesting against the appointment of Mr. Dawood as Faryab governor.
Last week, President Ghani removed Faryab governor, Naqibullah Fayeq, who is a close ally of Marshal Dostum. Following his removal, the Uzbek leader Marshal Dostum showed his discontent against President Ghani’s decision. He called on his supporters to stand against the new appointment.
The protesters demand a reform saying the governors, mayors, and district governors must be elected by the locals at provincial and district levels.
Karim Yourish, the spokesperson for Faryab Police Chief, told Kabul Now that the residents of four districts of the province – Qarghan, Andkhoy, Qaramqol, and Khan Charbagh – ended their peaceful protest on Monday, April 26.
The protest came three days after the Independent Directorate of the Local Governance said in a statement that Mohammad Dawood was appointed as the new governor for the province after President Ghani’s approval.
The HCNR deputy chairman, Mr. Farahmand, has warned that any appointment without consultation will break the “backbone” of the Islamic Republic.
The incumbent government was founded on an agreement between President Ghani and the HCNR Chairman Abdullah Abdullah after a disputed presidential election in 2019. As per the agreement, Abdullah’s bloc, to which Dostum is a key figure, has a 50 percent share in the cabinet. As per the agreement, the governors must be appointed or replaced in consultation between the two shareholders of power.
Following the protest in Faryab, the Parliament called on the government to avoid any appointment that plunges the country into a political crisis.
The appointments, especially when it comes to the leadership of the local administrations, must be made with due consideration of the country’s political situation, said Mir Rahman Rahmani, the Parliament Speaker.
