Sarwar Danish, Second Vice President, said on Tuesday at the 14th Anniversary of the Constitution that “the claim that our national constitution was distorted is totally wrong.” 

“Perspective of constitutional violations, non-separation of the provisions of the law and the political agreement of the national unity never take the place of the constitution and it is safe,” Danish said, added that “the recent political agreements or the agreement over the formation of the National Unity Government should not be seen as being in violation of the constitution.”

Danish said: “If in some cases the constitution is violated, hundreds of other cases have been implemented according to it from political to cultural and to individual cases.”

He said that the constitution protects political stability and national unity.

“The importance of the constitution is not hidden from anyone and rather is as a maternal law and a national bond,” he said. 

He pointed out that people violating the constitution need to be prosecuted. 

Danish also rejected claims that only one article of the constitution is being implemented but does acknowledge that parts of the constitution are being violated.

“In the past 14 years most of the articles of the constitution have been implemented including the formation of a government, and securing human rights.”

He also added that an ethnic dispute is being stoked in Afghanistan which is dangerous and violates the constitution.

His remarks come a day after the findings of a joint survey by the Pajhwok Afghan News Agency and Afghanistan’s Lawyers Union (ALU) shows that in the last 14 years 94 articles of the constitution have been violated.  

According to the report, out of the total 38 articles of the second chapter of the constitution, which is about the rights and obligations of the citizens, 32 articles have been violated. 

The survey was conducted nationwide and 898 people were interviewed. Four out of ten interviewed said they had no knowledge about the constitution.

According to the report, 58 percent of the constitution has been violated in the past 14 years. 

The report states that five articles which are about the authorities of the president have been violated by President Ashraf Ghani and former president Hamid Karzai. 

The presidential palace said in reaction to the report that most of the articles were violated by the former government and that the National Unity Government (NUG) is trying to end all violations of the constitution. 

Insecurity and corruption have been highlighted as the main reasons behind the problem.