Officials from Jamiat-e-Islami party of Afghanistan on Sunday said they have prepared a plan for promoting peace negotiation talks with the Taliban.
 
They said the plan comprises five factions including the resistance faction, the political parties, the government, the Taliban and civil society institutions.
 
If these factions reach a conclusion about peace negotiation talks, proper ground will be paved for restoring lasting peace in the country, said officials. 
 
This comes after some of Afghanistan’s mainstream political parties on Thursday said they have established independent peace negotiating teams to talk to the Taliban.

Jamiat-e-Islami, which is led by acting minister of foreign affairs Salahuddin Rabbani, General Abdul Rashid Dostum-led The National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar-led Hizb-e-Islami are among the three parties which have created their own separate teams to negotiate with the Taliban insurgents.
 
But, on Sunday, officials from Gulbuddin Hekmatyar-led Hizb-e-Islami party said the Taliban have shown willingness to talk with the seven-member peace delegation which has been created by the political committee of the political parties.
 
“We believe that the Taliban are willing to sit with this delegation,” said Humayoun Jarir, a member of Hizb-e-Islami.
 
“The incumbent government which is in power has many facilities and opportunities to bring about a consensus, our experiment shows that individualism and singleness does not help to settle an issue,” said Abdul Hafiz Mansour, head of the political committee of Jamiat-e-Islami.
 
According to Jamiat, five intra-Afghan factions must sit together to find a settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan.
 
“Five peace negotiation factions have been proposed, which includes the government faction, the Taliban, the resistance faction, the political parties and civil society institutions,” added Mansour.
 
But, why do the Afghan political parties want to talk with the Taliban separately from the government’s peace plan?
 
“The mechanism which is offered by the government for peace is incomplete,” said Bashir Ahmad Tayyanj, spokesman for The National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan.
 
“This job should be carried out from the address of the government, the government should form a peace delegation to talk to the Taliban and opponents, in a legal perspective. The creation of a separate group to talk with the Taliban is a clear violation of government’s sovereignty,” said political commentator Mohammad Haidari.
 
But, the government has said that the political parties should contribute to the peace process with the Taliban within the framework of government’s peace consultative board.