Skip to main content
Latest news
Thumbnail

Peace Needs To Be Citizen-Centered: Ghani

President Ashraf Ghani, who addressed a Townhall meeting in Munich Security Conference on Saturday, stressed the need for an inclusive peace process and said peace needs to be citizen-centered not elite-centered. 

“Peace needs to be citizen-centered, not elite-centered and because of it the forthcoming election in July is a must,” he said. 

Ghani said Afghans are determined to go forward and that there is a need for political inclusion in the peace process. 

“The peace that the Afghan public seeks is a sustainable peace, a peace that would last, not one that would conclude within five years,” he said. 

The president said he initiated peace when he agreed to form a national unity government and agreed on a peace deal with Hizb-e-Islami as well as established a three-day ceasefire with the Taliban. 

“Around 33,000 Taliban young fighters came to cities during [the] ceasefire,” Ghani explained. “The week before there were 1,000 casualties. In those three days, no one was molested, insulted, humiliated. It shows that our society is opting to overcome the past and choose the future.”

President Ghani talked about the upcoming consultative Loya Jirga, a traditional assembly, and said it will take place within a month.

He said that women from all Afghan provinces will attend a national debate “for the first time in the history of Afghanistan”. “They have already done elections on provincial levels,” he said. 

According to him, six groups including women, civil society, youth, and religious scholars will attend the Jirga. 

Ghani said Afghans do not want the gains of the past 18 years to be reversed.

Meanwhile, he said if the Constitution needs to be amended it must be amended through constitutional processes.

He said that there is no major political difference on peace, but added that “the price of the peace is not something that society is agreed on”. 

“We offered unconditional talks, not unconditional peace,” Ghani reiterated.  

He said that to know the reaction of the people, there should be a survey of the Afghan public, on sessions like the Moscow meeting – which took place on February 5 and 6 between Afghan political parties and Taliban representatives.

Ghani said the American presence in Afghanistan should be made more effective and efficient. “Effective means the numbers need to be discussed -what is the ideal number - efficient meaning the cost needs to be reduced,” he added.

Moreover, President Ghani said Afghanistan's revenue has increased by 90 percent in the last four years. "We can, by 2024, meet our security needs and our recurrent budget."

He said the government has reviewed the cost of the Afghan security forces and that the cost of the Afghan forces is currently $6.2 billion and that government can save $2 billion. "And $2.2 billion is going to counter-terrorism. Two billion [dollars] is easily affordable," he said.  

Peace Needs To Be Citizen-Centered: Ghani

President Ghani says Afghans do not want the gains of the past 18 years to be reversed.

Thumbnail

President Ashraf Ghani, who addressed a Townhall meeting in Munich Security Conference on Saturday, stressed the need for an inclusive peace process and said peace needs to be citizen-centered not elite-centered. 

“Peace needs to be citizen-centered, not elite-centered and because of it the forthcoming election in July is a must,” he said. 

Ghani said Afghans are determined to go forward and that there is a need for political inclusion in the peace process. 

“The peace that the Afghan public seeks is a sustainable peace, a peace that would last, not one that would conclude within five years,” he said. 

The president said he initiated peace when he agreed to form a national unity government and agreed on a peace deal with Hizb-e-Islami as well as established a three-day ceasefire with the Taliban. 

“Around 33,000 Taliban young fighters came to cities during [the] ceasefire,” Ghani explained. “The week before there were 1,000 casualties. In those three days, no one was molested, insulted, humiliated. It shows that our society is opting to overcome the past and choose the future.”

President Ghani talked about the upcoming consultative Loya Jirga, a traditional assembly, and said it will take place within a month.

He said that women from all Afghan provinces will attend a national debate “for the first time in the history of Afghanistan”. “They have already done elections on provincial levels,” he said. 

According to him, six groups including women, civil society, youth, and religious scholars will attend the Jirga. 

Ghani said Afghans do not want the gains of the past 18 years to be reversed.

Meanwhile, he said if the Constitution needs to be amended it must be amended through constitutional processes.

He said that there is no major political difference on peace, but added that “the price of the peace is not something that society is agreed on”. 

“We offered unconditional talks, not unconditional peace,” Ghani reiterated.  

He said that to know the reaction of the people, there should be a survey of the Afghan public, on sessions like the Moscow meeting – which took place on February 5 and 6 between Afghan political parties and Taliban representatives.

Ghani said the American presence in Afghanistan should be made more effective and efficient. “Effective means the numbers need to be discussed -what is the ideal number - efficient meaning the cost needs to be reduced,” he added.

Moreover, President Ghani said Afghanistan's revenue has increased by 90 percent in the last four years. "We can, by 2024, meet our security needs and our recurrent budget."

He said the government has reviewed the cost of the Afghan security forces and that the cost of the Afghan forces is currently $6.2 billion and that government can save $2 billion. "And $2.2 billion is going to counter-terrorism. Two billion [dollars] is easily affordable," he said.  

Share this post