Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Tuesday, March 19th, 2024

Unsustainable Coalitions Results Waste of Opportunities

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Unsustainable Coalitions Results Waste of Opportunities

A political coalition is a kind of collective action of citizens in response to the ongoing political situation ruling the society. Political activity in a broader level, without an extensive and comprehensive organization, is not very effective. In many cases, political cooperation and affinity at the national level in the structure of the political coalition leads to overcoming and survival from a potential threat. Even in the most controversial debatesand sensitive tensions such as election and division of political power, timelyand well thought political coalition have led to collective emancipation and have been redemptive. In post-Taliban era political unity was first illustrated as coalition government in Afghanistan. However, the coalition of politicians never crossed the shallow political layer to penetrate to the depth of social structures. That’s why the presence of elites never represented the extensive presence of common people to the administrative structure of the government.
This has caused great gaps and disruptions in the structure of Afghan society. Unfortunately, the past governments have never been effective in restoring this situation and in unifying Afghan society. This situation gradually increased the gaps between political power and the citizens of Afghanistan and changed the public image of government to a private and monopolistic one. The opposition political leaders also benefited politically from these social gaps in order to gain political power.  The problem was intensified by accentuating and highlighting the ethic and regional side of the marginalization from the public services and existing discrimination. The promotion and multiplication of issues with ethnical dimensions has its own unique utilization in Afghanistan. That is why in many cases some of the political leaders intentionally or unknowingly have spread ethnic and class tensions. Unfortunately, taking advantage from ethnicity as a tool for promoting political ends is widespread in Afghanistan. Political coalitions in Afghanistan are based and sustained on this element. That is the reason that the political alliances in this country are full of public excitements and routine melees. This implies that no political coalition is based on the principles of political wisdom and a precise plan.
So far, no political opposition neither has published nor has distributed a scholary article elaborating the challenges of the country in a comprehensive manner and providing practical solutions to them. While every political coalition has carried out and used the significantrallies and promotions during its political maneuvering. It seems that fueling public excitement and accumulation of sentimental feelings of people are the ultimate goal of political coalition leaders.
At a time when the educated generation and contemporary world are following and monitoring closely the situation with their curious and scrutinizing mindset, is it possible to overcome the complex political problems only by fomenting communal sentimental feelings?
The political alliances that have appeared in today’s world without political knowledge and wisdom may not have the viability against political incidence, and are deemed to leave the scene soon. In political rules and games, the ground realities shall always be considered, if not so, the political coalitions will easily collapse with allits merits.
Political alliances before anything else must be based on the national interest and have a practicallyfeasible plan. Otherwise, how can they convince and attract the rest of the community outside of their own circle?
The healthy political struggle and rivalry with ruling powers,beside Afghanistan public opinion, must take in to account the existing political situation as well as international community’s perspective about the region. Therefore, sacrificing the current opportunities for ethnic or group interests alone, may once again put Afghanistan on another terrible downturn, in which case the oppressed people of the country will fall victim to another historicalmistake.
The national unity government and Afghan political leaders must be well aware that the people of Afghanistan, with many sacrifices and devotions, have gone through the devastating crisis who are currently seek to make a subsistence living. Therefore if political rivalries will provoke public rebukes and waste the public opportunities and assets it will finally lead people to a public rage.
Currently with the present situation Afghan citizens consider the maintenance of national unity as a public merit in Afghanistan. The public meritstems frompublic unity. Whilethe prosperity and welfare of citizenship is objectively illustrated with plurality and embracing ethnic diversity. Embracing multi-ethnicity in a diverse society is considered as an unavoidable fact for having a peaceful life. Citizens love each other and look for their livelihoods free of tension. They are only the society's politicians who do not have much in common with each other in political power sharing. In reality post-conflict countries need to enhance the national trust foundation even before establishing any political institution. National trust only in broader structure of political power can sustain and play meaningful role. National representation and inclusion in the larger level of government, will bring together the different social class with each other and can underpin the government-public relationships. Afghanistan has learned lesson from itsharsh political history and experience of multi-ethnicity nations, that without an inclusive national government there is no other ways to provide broader welfare to the citizens.
The policy of the elimination and totalitarianization of political power has struck Afghanistan in a crisis of internal tensions over the past thirty years. The thirty years of ongoing political events have thought clear lessons, however, if history is not well understood history will inevitably be repeated. Repeating history with its past events will put us in the verge of a historical collapse. Afghans living a lifetime under the ruins of life-threatening events perceive, more than anybody else, the danger of a horrible shockof collapsing in a downturn crisis.
The national unity government, instead of fighting and wasting time with political coalitions and political games, must seek the participation and inclusion of society’s elites and social experts in the government structure in a comprehensive and just manner. Citizens expect that the national unity government should seek to diminish the elimination policy. The policy of elimination at various layers of previous governments has been obvious. The people of Afghanistan hoped that with the institutionalization of the national unity government, the participation of all the ethnic groups in the structure of government would ensure the consistency and sustainability of unity and interdependency at the various levels of the Afghan society, because as the main foundation of the national unity government in the Third Republic, inclusiveness of all ethnicities in the structure of coming government was broadly expected.

Sayed Asif Hussaini is the permanent writer of the Daily Afghanistan. He can be reached at thedailyafghanistan@yahoo.com.

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