The US’s proposed 8-page draft, “Afghanistan Peace Agreement,” will be discussed in a meeting of political leaders hosted by the High Council for National Reconciliation led by Abdullah Abdullah this week, according to an official of the council.
Sources said the meeting will likely be attended by key political leaders, who will discuss the details of a transitional government for peace, elections, as well as an expected conference on Afghan politicians and the Taliban in Turkey, as proposed by the United States in a letter by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah.
“The meeting of the leadership committee of the High Council for National Reconciliation will be held this week in which the US proposed draft shared with Mr. Abdullah will be shared with politicians and their views will be heard. Any decision that would be made there will be announced,” a spokesman of the council, Fraidoon Khwazoon, said.
The draft shared with Afghan political leaders a week ago says that no election will be held during the peace government. The draft proposes a new election commission and an impartial international organization to manage the polls that will be held after the establishment of a transitional setup.
The leadership members of the council include former president Hamid Karzai and former vice president Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, among other mainstream political leaders who had a role in the Bonn conference in 2001, a key gathering that opened the way for an interim and transitional governments in the country.
“All these have been agreed with the Taliban. When they say that they are holding an election, they cannot go to Arghandy (an area in western Kabul) but they say they will hold an election. Elections cannot be held like this. Elections should be held in a calm environment and then an interim, or transition period-- or under any other name--will provide the way for an election that is held across Afghanistan,” said Sayed Ishaq Gailani, head of the National Solidarity Movement of Afghanistan, who has attended at least two meetings of the leadership council of the High Council for National Reconciliation.
But the government has insisted on the Taliban’s agreement with the principle of elections so that they can negotiate any date for it, presumably before President Ghani’s term is completed.
“We will not ignore the Constitution,” First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said at an event on Monday. “If the Taliban agrees on the principle of election… we can discuss the date of the election, we can discuss on the election to be one of the most monitored election in human history, but we will never discuss or agree on a document for dissolving our system, our achievements and above all the people’s right to vote.”
Sources and analysts familiar with the matter said the Taliban’s participation in an election is dependent on the fulfillment of some conditions.
“The Taliban’s stance is that they accept a new government but their stance on their participation in a new government is that they might not participate in a new government and will wait for an election that is approved after discussion,” a former Taliban member, Jalaluddin Shinwari said, who was an attorney general for the group in Kabul during the late 1990s.
“An early election is the best option, but it is dependent on an agreement by all parties,” an international affairs analyst Sefat Safi said.
It is not clear so far whether the Taliban will accept the elections, but last year they reacted to the presidential election and said the polls cannot solve the country’s problems if it is held under “occupation.”