In fact, what is being called as 'system change' is not a change in the system at all. It is rather a change in the form of government from presidential to parliamentary, which is in the favor of the diverse Afghan society.
The cold war between the opposition and the Afghan Presidential office is getting very intense. The planned and controversial reconciliation process has widened the gap between the both. In fact, the process has given rise to a lot of ambiguities as it has not been very much transparent. Most of the Afghan people and dominant political groups in the country seem to have been kept totally aloof of the process which has given rise to the present situation.
Marc Grossman, US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, in his current visit to Kabul has said the reconciliation process will be totally Afghan-led and the US intends to carry on the process under the leadership of the President Karzai.
In fact, the term 'Afghanization' is being used extravagantly in this regard. Nevertheless, there are doubts about the process being Afghanized – not only because Afghan governmental authorities have been kept aloof of the process but because of the process being kept alien for the people of Afghanistan. There is lack of accountability in the process and lack of representation of all the people of Afghanistan.
There has always been a gap between the ruling elite and the common people. The ruling stratum has not been able to penetrate within the lives of the common people. The people, in fact, suffer from the lack of basic requirements of life which can be easily attributed to the insecurity in the country. They can not have the luxury of talks for the sake of talks. They want tangible results and that can only be achieved when the process is really Afghanized – not just for the sake of the news!
Afghanization of the process does not mean only government representation in the negotiations; rather it must involve representatives of the opposition groups, minorities and other parties to the conflict. The government and Western allies have already announced that Taliban is 'not enemy', so it would be better to let those participate in the process as well who consider Taliban as their enemy and whom the Taliban consider enemy.
Yes, it is a fact that there is no other option that can guarantee a lasting peace in Afghanistan except negotiation but negotiation must be properly planned, carefully guided and must be in the favor of the majority of the people of Afghanistan. It is not important what a person having a secure and properly guarded residence wants but it is really important what those million of people want who do not have to fight with the scarcity of basic needs alone but also with the ghost of terrorism that is determined to swallow them hungrily.
The current cold war between the Presidential office and Afghanistan National Front (ANF) has started since the meeting of members of ANF with the US lawmakers in Berlin. The members of ANF clearly demanded for a parliamentarian form of democracy rather than a centralized presidential form.
They mentioned that the current form of democracy in the country has been dominated by undue dominance of the president over the entire system and, in fact, denies the demands of multi-ethnic and diverse society like Afghanistan. Reacting to the demand of opposition groups, President Karzai, in his speech at the inauguration of the second year of 16th session of Afghan National Assembly, commented that the Afghanistan is not a laboratory where new systems can be tested every now and then.
Members of ANF have also reacted to the statements of Karzai with strong emphasis on their stand. Ahmad Zia Massoud, a prominent leader of ANF has mentioned that Karzai's reaction is against the will of Afghan people.
He has said, "If there is resistance against the legitimate demands of the Afghan people, it means that government is going towards totalitarianism and despotism and the nation will be faced with an unpleasant situation…. The government is unable to address people's demands and the country is going towards a crisis.
This is why the National Front called for a change in the Afghan political system so that a crisis can be averted." Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, another recognized leader of ANF has said, "Mr. Karzai himself is being fed by foreigners. He uses a plane to go to the parliament from the palace and his bodyguards were foreigners before. Now he attributes others' words to foreigners." The cold war is on and there is more to be heard of it in near future.
What is going to be the outcome of this cold war is a different story but it is necessary that the responsible authorities must keep one thing in mind that the political system and the reconciliation process must end in the greater interest of the people of Afghanistan. In fact, what is being called as system change is not a change in the system at all.
It is rather a change in the form of government from presidential to parliamentary, which is in the favor of the diverse Afghan society. On the other hand, the Afghanization of reconciliation process is in fact a disguise being used for the peace talks with Taliban so as to prove the process effective and decisive.
However, no effective solution would be achieved from the reconciliation process unless it is Afghanized in real sense and the people and groups that have participated more constructively in the socio-political scenario of the country are given more importance than Taliban; otherwise the Afghan people and major Afghan groups would keep on reacting against the process.
The statements of Ahmad Zia Massoud, stated last week in this regard are worth consideration. He had said, "If Taliban are back in the political process, being imposed on us, the Afghan people will definitely resist, paving the way for another war to happen… If Taliban want peace, we are ready to make peace, but if they want to fight, there will be a fight.
That's it. If you coddle them, give them a political address and other gains, they will never be ready for any talks." On the other hand, the leader of National Coalition, Abdullah Abdullah also mentioned, "The Taliban must announce that they are ready to hold peace talks with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Those who take part in the talks must be clearly defined and it must be clear who and what sides they are representing… The Afghan people can never accept a return of the Taliban regime or their strict rules."
Currently, Afghanistan is going through the most important phase of its history and unfortunately there is a wide gap among the government, opposition parties and above all the people. In such a scenario it is very difficult to expect something very positive as the outcome of the situation.