Government is reportedly set to inaugurate the new parliament once the Independent Election Commission announces the final results of October 20 parliamentary polls which were marred by widespread allegations of fraud and major irregularities that finally led to the dismissal of the entire members of the election commissions.

President Ghani’s deputy spokesman Shahussain Murtazawi told TOLOnews on Wednesday that the president will inaugurate new parliament once the final results of parliamentary elections are announced.

The Afghan parliament’s term expired in 22 June 2015. But Ghani in a decree extended the parliament’s term which faced with questions by some Afghan law experts and election monitoring institutions at the time about the legal grounds of this matter.

Humayun Humayun, the second deputy speaker of the Wolesi Jirga, said the incumbent members of the parliament will continue their job as usual until the new members come in.

He argued that in line with the law, the president is expected to inaugurate the new legislative term of the parliament after March 7 when the MPs return from their winter recess.

“We want implementation of the law. The law states that the parliament should be inaugurated on 16th of Hoot (March 7),” he said. “The issue that they are not inaugurating the parliament is rooted in the interference of foreign countries so that they can achieve their objectives.”

Legal experts said that if the incumbent parliament continues its tenure after March 7, this would be against the Constitution of Afghanistan and in that case, the incumbent government will take the shape of an authoritarian government. 

“Nonexistence of a parliament indicates the situation of a dictatorship by government. This dictatorship harms both the parliament and the people,” said legal expert Wahid Farzaee.