Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan, officially inaugurated the new parliament of Afghanistan. He opened the seventeenth parliament of Afghanistan while dozens of seats are still empty awaiting the results of the contested election from weeks ago.

In his speech, while mentioning the peace process with the Taliban, President Ghani assured the members of parliament that there will be no peace deals “without a green light from parliament”. He emphasized that the representatives of the nation must not be kept in the dark about the peace process. Ghani said that participation of all Afghans, including women, is important in the peace process and added: “The Republic will live on”.

Ghani warned those who are seeking to change the constitution that it will not happen. He compared the effort to change the constitution to “a soft coup”.

In another part of his speech, Ghani admitted to the widespread corruption within the security forces and what he called “arbitrary designations,” and said: “We have started reforms and empowerment of the security forces.” He asked the parliament to support the security forces. He also thanked the heads of government’s security institutions and described the Taliban’s “Al-Fath” operation, which started in late February, as a failure.

Ghani clarified: “I will remain president until a transparent national election.” Some presidential candidates had argued that according to the constitution, Ghani can only remain president until May 22.

Afghanistan’s parliament has 250 sets, with 25 percent reserved for women, 10 seats to nomadic tribes of Afghanistan, and one to the Sikh/Hindu minority.