With Foreign Troops All But Gone, Here’s What Taliban Said About ‘New Cabinet’ In Afghanistan

Most countries, except the United States, have said that they have completed their evacuation mission in Afghanistan by now, while the US, too, is expected to take the last of its troops out of the Kabul airport by Wednesday morning.

The Taliban, in the absence of foreign troops in the war-torn country, has now said that they are preparing a new cabinet to govern the land that has been marred by conflict for decades. Although the exact timing of the formation of the new cabinet remains unclear, there have been conflicting reports on an announcement that the Taliban is looking to make in this regard, soon.

The Reuters news agency originally quoted Zabuhullah Mujahid, the main spokesperson for the Taliban, as saying the announcement would be made in the coming week, but he later “clarified”, in a voice message, that the group is looking to confirm the makeup of the new cabinet “in one or two weeks”. On Saturday, Mujahid once again informed Reuters that the new cabinet was in the works and the relevant announcement would be made soon.

It is still unclear what this new iteration of the caliphate will look like, but experts are skeptical about the Taliban’s commitment to avoid a repeat of their 1990s rule when Afghanistan declined into a pariah state, the economy was in shambles, and repression was at an all-time high as discontent spread across the nation. Even Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has admitted that the group did not anticipate seizing control of the country so soon, and political watchers say that the militants are yet to decide the exact terms regarding who would rule, and how.

“…they have to announce a government when the Americans leave but it’s really taking a long time and has potential to spin out of control,” a report quoted Ashley Johnson, the co-director of the centre for the study armed groups at the Overseas Development Institute in London, as saying.

The Taliban have brushed past inquiries regarding whether any women would be included in the new cabinet. When Reuters posed this question to Mujahid, the group’s spokesperson said this would be a matter for the leadership to decide and he could not anticipate what their decision would be.

Moreover, there is the question of getting the economy back on track as well. Shattered by four decades of war, the country’s financial system now also faces the loss of billions of dollars in foreign aid. The currency is plummeting while food prices are on the rise, leading to extreme economic hardship and mounting frustration in Kabul. Banks and financial institutions in the Afghan capital are still reported to be shuttered, even more than two weeks since the city fell to the Taliban.

On Saturday, a statement from the Taliban said that banks were ordered to reopen with a weekly limit on withdrawals of $200 or 20,000 afghanis. Mujahid also said officials had already been appointed to run key institutions including the ministries of public health and education and the central bank. “The fall of Afghani against foreign currency is temporary,” he insisted, adding that it will return to normal once the new government system starts functioning.