Former Afghan officials announce government in exile, Saleh to lead

A number of former Afghan officials who have fled the country along with President Ashraf Ghani announced the continuation of the Afghan government in exile. A statement released by the Afghan embassy in Swiss reads that, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the only legitimate government of Afghanistan that is elected by the votes of people and no other government can replace a legitimate one.

The statement reads that Afghanistan has been occupied by external factors and based on the historic responsibility of the Afghan government after consultations with the elders of the country, they decided to announce government in exile. “After the escape of Ashraf Ghani and his rupture with the Afghan politics, his first vice-president (Amrullah Saleh) will be leading the country,” reads the statement. The three powers of the government namely executive, judicial, and legislative will be activated soon and they have been busy consulting in this regard it added.

The statement has also announced their support to the resistance front- the anti-Taliban front led by Ahmad Masoud- and has added that all the embassies and consulates of Afghanistan will be functional as normal. The statement is written and released by leaders of the previous government, political leaders, and other politicians but the name of none of these has been disclosed. However, the statement does not identify any other members of the government in exile apart from Saleh,

A month after announcing an interim cabinet led by Mullah Akhund, the Taliban recently announced that Afghanistan will temporarily adopt the Constitution ratified during Muhammad Zahir Shah's time over 50 years ago.