Almost 20 days after the signing of the political agreement, President Ghani has yet to issue a decree promoting former vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum to marshal rank.
Based on the agreement, Dostum--who was a supporter of Abdullah’s campaign in last year’s presidential election--will not only be given the marshal rank but will also be given membership in the High Council of Government and the National Security Council.
Abdullah Abdullah’s close aides said the Presidential Palace has said that the president will sign the decree with some amendments proposed by Abdullah.
The Presidential Palace and Abdullah’s close aides said there isn’t any dispute between the two sides over promoting Dostum to marshal rank.
“The promotion to marshal rank by the president should be held in Kabul in the presence of high ranking civilian and military officials,” said Ahmad Saeedi, a former Afghan diplomat.
“We expect unity and solidarity instead of discord,” said Abdul Zahir Tamim, an MP.
Sources previously said that the decree was expected to be issued ahead of the signing of the political agreement, but Abdullah was against the use of the "honorary" word in the decree and that the Presidential Palace has also promised to issue the decree after an amendment.
“It seems that the agreement between the elders was not mature as it has faced some hurdles on one word. The future government with the Taliban will have 10,000 words and at that time we might wait ten thousand years,” said Tariq Farhadi, a former presidential adviser.
The Presidential Palace denied there was any rift over the issue, but did not mention the scheduled time of the issuance of the decree.
“The signing of the political agreement was a milestone for overcoming political challenges in the country,” Sediqqi said. “The Afghan government is fully committed to implementing the contents of the political agreement.”
But an MP, Abdul Rahman Wardak, said that at least 100 lawmakers have opposed the promotion of Dostum to marshal rank ahead of the signing of the political deal between Ghani and Abdullah.
He said the MPs sent their opposition in a letter to the Presidential Palace.
“At least 100 MPs collected signatures and expressed their opposition,” he said.
However, a spokesman for Dostum, Bashir Ahmad Tahyanj, said the discussion on promoting Dostum to marshal rank is final and he will be promoted to the rank for his political and military activities.