Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Independence Day: An Opportunity for Rethinking

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Independence Day: An  Opportunity for Rethinking

Afghans celebrated the 96th Independence Day at a time when the country is facing enormous challenges and the prospect of the country’s stability remains uncertain. Participating in a state ceremony for commemorating Afghanistan’s Independence Day, the leaders of the National Unity Government stressed on peace and security in the country and unity of the people of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been facing a stiff insurgency this year and the security has been deteriorating with the fresh resurgence of the insurgent groups. The Taliban are waging a deadly offensive, taking huge tolls from civilians and security personnel. The 96th Independence Day further draws attentions to the lagging state-building efforts of the people of Afghanistan. It also highlights Afghanistan’s needs for sustainable peace in the country and long-lasting and peaceful solution to the current conflict.

The landmark national celebration also provides the opportunity for Afghan political elite and the government officials to ponder over how best to serve the nation and resolve the current challenges. This is while recently a new poll conducted by ATR on request of TOLOnews shows that less than 20 percent of respondents are satisfied with the performance of a National Unity Government (NUG). This is the fourth survey conducted over performance of the NUG, each showing increased public discontent to the performance of the new government. In the program, over two thousand people in thirty-four provinces of the country are surveyed. 52.1% of respondents are not satisfied with President Ashraf Ghani’s performance while 19.8 percent are satisfied and 22.1 percent are relatively satisfied with the NUG administration.

The survey is published after a year of new government. Since then, the challenges in the country have substantially increased and the security situation has worsened compared to previous years. This year has been particularly a difficult year for the ongoing campaign against the insurgent groups. The Taliban started a bloody offensive across the country which has been mainly focused on Northern provinces. Elsewhere in eastern part of the country, the Islamic State group has come to prominence, expanding its activities in Nangarhar, Paktika, Kunar and some other eastern provinces. The highways have become scenes of day-to-day kidnapping of civilian passengers by militants. The military operation launched by Afghan army and police units in Northern provinces has become a lagging effort to repel the resurgence of the Taliban and protect the people.

However, the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have been paying a huge sacrifice in fighting the Taliban and maintaining security across the country. Since the beginning of 2015, Afghanistan’s army and police forces have been shouldering the burden of the war against the insurgent groups as the US-led coalition ended its combat mission in Afghanistan. The ANSF are paying huge tolls to contain the ongoing insurgency and maintain security across the country. Celebration of the Independence Day this year was focused on appreciations to the Afghan defense and security forces with President Ashraf Ghani thanking the ANSF for their bravery and sacrifices. The President said that with the transfer of security responsibility taking place last year, many said that Afghanistan’s security would worsen in the absence of the coalition forces, but sons of the nation taught a lesson to the enemies of peace in Afghanistan.

The move by the NUG to appreciate armed forces of Afghanistan is a right move that would improve the military’s morale in the fight against the insurgent groups. However, the government needs to do more to lead the war efficiently and succeed in the ongoing war against the insurgency. The government should provide political support to the leadership of the military campaign against the insurgents and take specific measures to strengthen the positions of the armed forces in the battlefields. Only through proper political support and provision of sufficient weaponry the war in northern Afghanistan can be won by the ANSF. The government needs to lead the war against the Taliban through a dedicated transitional defense plan focused on enhancement of coordination of ANSF and more efficient war tactics against the insurgents.

On economic front, the prospect for the people of Afghanistan has become grimmer with the economy in a steady decline since the last year presidential elections and the formation of the National Unity Government. The deterioration of security with the meltdown of the national economy and the increasing economic challenges for the citizens has been the main worries adding to the plights of the Afghans. Unemployment is record high with the international community is withdrawing from the country and consequently the aid flow from the outside world decreasing. In addition to it, the controversial last year presidential election was the main factor behind the economic meltdown in Afghanistan which the country so far has not been able to recover from it. If the government fails to take swift measures to improve the economy, the situation would further worsen. The government needs to manage a quick recovery from the current economic crisis in the country so to help improve lives of ordinary Afghans.

The high rate of dissatisfaction among the public over the performance of the National Unity Government is highly justified. Major stakeholders of the government have been largely busy with power struggle, leaving the government highly dysfunctional in carrying out the day to day as well as development affairs of the country. The celebration of the Independence Day is an opportunity for the NUG leaders to reassert their will on efficiently leading the country and improving lives of the people populace. On this day, the NUG leaders should assure the nation for improving security, enhancing the economy and improving lives of the ordinary people and effectively fight corruption. The Independence Day is also an opportunity for the NUG to learn from past mistakes and a start anew providing a sound and efficient governance for the people of Afghanistan.

 

 

 

Abdul Ahad Bahrami is the permanent writer of the Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at ahad.bahrami@gmail.com

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