QASED Non-government Research Organization
By: Dr. Abdul Baqi Amin
Translated by: Rahim Afghan
The Consultative Peace Loya Jirga will be convened on Monday, April 29, 2019, while critical issues are going to be concluded between the United States and the Taliban in general. The United States has shown readiness to leave Afghanistan if they are assured that their interests will not be threatened from Afghanistan. On the other side, the Taliban has also shown readiness to guarantee that the United States and other countries will not be attacked from Afghanistan. Such agreement eliminates the fundamental barrier to peace since the United States main justification for not withdrawing from Afghanistan was that they would be attacked and Taliban were saying that as long as there is a US soldier in Afghanistan, they will not lay down their weapons. The two sides’ readiness overcame the barrier to peace and increased hopes for achieving peace. However, it raised concerns among those who believe that the presence of the United States in Afghanistan is in their favor and those who benefit from the continuation of the war.
This Jirga will be held at the time in which the planned Intra-Afghans meeting in Qatar was postponed at the last moments of its arrangements. The Afghan government has already argued that the meeting should have been held after concluding the Consultative Loya Jirga however, the government agreed to the meeting in Qatar based on the pressure of Zalmay Khalilzad. Yet due to the government proposal of 250-participants, that meeting was canceled one day prior departure to Qatar. The cancelation of Qatar’s meeting disappointed many who are in the peacekeeping circles inside and outside Afghanistan. The majority of analysts accounted the announcement of the 250-participants list by the government as the primary reason for the cancelation. The Intra-Afghans meeting planned in Qatar was considered to be of a great importance as a platform for dialog and exchange of views over the key and fundamental issues of the country. It was believed that a great draft of views would be generated about the future of peace in Afghanistan which could mark a roadmap of peace and end of the war in Afghanistan. It was also believed that as a result of the meeting in Qatar, a joint working group or secretariat including all Afghan political parties would be established to pursue the peace talks between the involved parties.
There are many worries and concerns about the convening of the Consultative Loya Jirga. A large number of political parties and electoral teams have boycotted it and considered it as an electoral campaign saying that the peace process currently doesn’t need for such consultation. Many organizations that work for peace in the country are concerned about issuing such consultations from the Consultative Loya Jirga that will create current barriers on the way of realization of national peace and reconciliation. The concerns and hopes of the majority of these institutions and individuals are as follows:
Insistence on government-led peace talks: Since a long time, the Afghan government insisted about the leadership of the peace talks while the problem is that Taliban don’t recognize the current government and don’t accept negotiation in related to peace negotiation with the Afghan government. Indeed they are unwilling to sit with the Afghan government in one table. Therefore, if the Consultative Loya Jirga emphasized on the leadership of Afghan government in peace talks, surely it will create a new barrier to the peace process where the Afghan government will subsequently invoke the Loya Jirga recommendation as a national value. It’s imperative that the peace talks shall be managed by an impartial and sacred group to achieve peace in the country. A group who can bring the views of both sides together and plan a progress of the peace talks in light of recommendations of all parties and removing the obstacles. This concern is important since the majority of the peace process observers believe that the Afghan government has always deviously brought the reconciliation opportunities and its initiatives. A recent survey by the Center for Strategic and Regional Studies has shown that the Afghan government is not serious in the peace negotiations.
Insistence in the past eighteen year’s achievements: Over the last eighteen years, there have been many changes in Afghanistan, development in regard to the community, undeniable steps have taken place in construction of the country. However, besides the huge contributions of the international community, the country has yet been unable to economically stand on its own and solve its problems without the economic assistance of the international community. Corruption and embezzlement in government offices are one of the biggest challenges facing Afghanistan’s economic self-sufficiency. The Afghan government failed to manage the aids provided to Afghanistan in accordance with the requirements of the country. Even could not properly handle the country’s income. The customs taxes and income taxes loot by the government officials and forcible people inside the government, including the Afghanistan mines looting, in which insecurity and Lack of the government control also have its rule in it. On the other hand, the groundwork for the dissemination of Western culture through all cultural means was one of the remarkable attention of the past eighteen years, which has always been severely criticized by various sides in the country. Freedom of expression with positive points up to the imbecility of law insulting the sacrosanct things was formed in this period. Worth to mention that drug production and drug addiction in the country have reached its peak, which threatens the future of Afghanistan beyond the war monster. Focus on preserving the achievements of nearly two decades does not represent the absolute demand of Afghans and is one of the obstacles to peace and reconciliation in the country. However, it is possible to classify these achievements. The good achievements of the government in this period should be preserved, but the promotion of banality, the prevalence of betrayal, and the destruction of the country’s property and the prevalence of drug addiction are not to be considered achievements, but indeed are failure and mismanagement which should be controlled through reforming the country’s policies in relying on Islamic values, good traditions of the country and principles of nations’ civilizations and development. This simulates the general pronouncement of Afghan’s vote. There are hopes that members of the Consultative Loya Jirga pay attention narrowly on this issue and undertake the demands of the people’s pronouncement where unfair people could not bring deviously their vote.
Opposition to Provisional Government: The Afghan government stands in an opposition to an interim government plan after a peace agreement with the Taliban which has been counted as a conspiracy. The Afghan government wants to apply the model of reconciliation with the Hezb-e-Islami party of Gubuddin Hekmatyar with Taliban and requests the international community and regional actors involved in Afghan case to pressurize Taliban to accept such model of reconciliation to reach a peace agreement. Yet Taliban consider themselves the conqueror of the battlefield, they want to make their pattern, the reconciliation model of Dr. Najeebullah government, as well through understanding of the United States, to put pressure on the Afghan government to adapt itself with that model. In this regard, the peace institutions and committed figures are concerned that the Consultative Loya Jirga meeting will be an attempt by the government to strengthen its position and that the views of the Loya Jirga members serve the interest of the government in such a way that the government can use it as a decision of the Afghan nation which will help in resisting against the US pressures. If the reconciliation with the Taliban carry out and for applying the provisions of agreements, there is need for an administration to be committed in complying the provisions of the agreement. In which it should be in the same distance with all political and military factions in the country and be called the interim administration or the supervisory administration that would be if an urgent necessity in this stage. Based on the agreed mechanism, it sincerely set up the ground for a permanent government. Perhaps insisting on opposition against a such governing body may create a major obstacle to peace and stability.
Civilian killing: Despite these concerns, there is hope that the Consultative Loya Jirga will call on the government with a sharp accent to stop the bombing of Afghan houses. Our nation has witnessed massive crimes targeting houses of people in the air and night operations that cause killing of children and women. The bombardment of residential places where children and women exist is significantly considered as war crimes against our nation. It is also expected that members of the Consultative Loya Jirga would urge the government to do not shoot arrested persons in night operations in their homes after they close their hands and cover their heads but bring them to the courts to be released if they are innocent. But killing our fellow citizens after their arrest is a crime and the security forces of Afghanistan should be uncommitted to that. The Afghan president should stop these kinds of killings out of the law. It is hoped that the members of Loya Jirga will understand the pain of families in their country and reflect that pain with severity and effectiveness.
The end
