Afghan parliament endorses 16 minister-designates

Another 16 minister-candidates were endorsed by Wolesi Jirga or Lower House of the Afghan parliament on Saturday.

The Afghan government has 25 ministries and the Saturday's voting brought to 24 the number of ministers approved by the lower house while the post for the country's Defense Ministry remained unfilled.

"All 16 minister-candidates recently introduced by the government to Wolesi Jirga were approved after voting in Saturday' s session," Lower House Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi told the session.

Four women, including ministers for the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Women Affairs, were among the candidates.

Ibrahimi urged the government to nominate the defense minister at an early date.

After assuming office in last September, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani promised to form a cabinet within 45 days but only eight minister-designates, including the chief of National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country's intelligence agency, were approved in late January.