Taliban Likely to Announce Government Today

The Taliban are likely to announce the new administration after the afternoon prayers on Friday on the lines of the Iranian leadership with the group's top spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada as the supreme authority of Afghanistan.

According to reports, Bilal Karimi, a member of the group's cultural commission on Thursday said that the Taliban and other Afghan leaders have reached a concensus on the formation of a new government and cabinet under Akhundzada's leadership.

Karimi while quoted by Bloomberg said, "The consultations on forming an inclusive Afghan government within the Islamic Emirate's leaders, with the leaders from the previous government and other influential leaders have officially ended."

"They have reached a consensus. We're about to announce a functioning cabinet and government in a few days, not weeks," he added.

All eyes are on the Taliban whether Afghanistan's new rulers will keep their promise of a more "inclusive" government and be more accommodating than during their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, which was notorious for its brutal and violent interpretation of Sharia, and its treatment of women. Women were not allowed to work and denied freedom of movement and girls were banned from school.

Karimi said Haibatullah Akhundzada will be the top leader of any governing council, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of Akhundzada's three deputies and the main public face of the Taliban, is likely to be in charge of the daily functioning of the government in Afghanistan. Senior Taliban leaders have said that Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada will monitor the government from Kandahar, the stronghold of the movement.

The Taliban government will follow the pattern of the Iranian leadership under which the supreme leader is the highest political and religious authority of the country, reported news agency PTI.

In Iran, he is above the president and appoints the heads of the military as well as the government and the judiciary. The Iranian supreme leader has the final say in the political, religious and military affairs of the country.

Haibatullah Akhundzada has been serving at a mosque in the Kachlaak area of Balochistan province for 15 years.

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