Among other political agenda and issues, there is a need for political reforms to be discussed, initiated and implemented in the country. These political reforms include changing the presidential system into parliamentary democracy. Over the last ten years, international community has been helping Afghan (Karzai's) government to expand its writ into every nook and cranny of the country.

But these ten years of international support for Karzai's administration has not produced any tangible result in terms of state penetration in the society. Not only this has not happened but also Afghan government and its international backers are facing a loss of public support, though it does not mean that Afghan people have begun to sympathize with Taliban or subscribe to their violent ideology because recent survey findings such as those of The Asia Foundation reveal and indicate a steady and substantial decline in sympathy with Taliban among Afghan people and communities.

So there is a different reason for the dwindling credibility of international community among Afghan people and that is nothing other than the fact that people in the provinces, districts and villages think that international community is backing Karzai's corrupt government, which has a proven inefficiency to deliver services and turn things around.

Poor governance, rampant corruption and predatory officials are the main descriptive and illustrative features of Karzai's government. Afghanistan is run and managed by a strong presidential system. This system was tested for the last ten years and turned out to be ineffective in meeting the demands of all ethnic groups in the country.

So there is a need to begin to explore alternative system to the existing one. There is a surge in support on the part of loyal oppositions and major political parties and alliances in the country for bringing fundamental reforms to the government.

International community should support these reformist initiatives to pave the way for their honorable disengagement from the Afghanistan. President Karzai, unfortunately, has reacted to this campaign very unwisely and undemocratically, saying, "I would like to emphasize that Afghanistan is not a political laboratory of foreigners.

Over the last 40 years, our country was through several kinds of political systems. We do not allow a new political experience to be put to test in our country." The president laid further stress that the current system of Afghanistan has been established based on popular will and he would be ready to give his life to safeguard it.

Earlier on January 9, 2012, the leaders of National Front of Afghanistan, an alliance of several political parties and groups with millions of supporters, in a seven-point plan proposed ways to return the power to the people and include the people into the decision-making process by beginning to discuss the change in the current centralized form of power as they said, "We call for a national dialogue on a revised Constitution to correct the inherent flaws in the present power structure by decentralizing the political system, making it more compatible with the diverse political, social and cultural nature of Afghanistan. The Afghan people deserve and need a parliamentary form of democracy instead of a personality-centered Presidential system."

In the meanwhile, the National Coalition led by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the former foreign minister and president Karzai's viable opponent in the 2009 presidential election, also espouses and supports the parliamentary democracy to be established in the country to substitute the existing presidential system, which has brought about one of the world's most centralized power structure and remains prone to corruption.

Mr. President must understand that the ongoing surge in support for decentralization of power comes from the popular will and decision too. So he must not play with the wisdom of the people when he feels that power is returned to the people and is taken away from him and his corrupt network.

Afghan people witness and experience on a day-to-day basis that how the current system has produced a kleptocratic government plagued with inefficiency. They also know that how a president of autocratic nature easily puts aside the constitution when he feels that his favorite candidates are not elected to the parliament.

Afghan people have also realized that how an erratic president calls their enemies his brothers without feeling any obligation to consult the nation for any decision that affects the whole nation. In the meanwhile, president Karzai must know that one or another form of democratic system is put in place to manage a society.

People can choose the one that best suits their multi-ethnic country. In the era of new waves of democratization, Afghanistan cannot return to a form of political system and government other than democracy. After the fall of Taliban regime in late 2001, the country opted for democratic system and process to manage the differences and diversity that fortunately exist in this territorial part of the world, and serve its people.

Almost ten years have elapsed but daunting problems and challenges persist, posing serious threats to the future course of peace in the country. In fact, Afghanistan is catapulted into a new complex situation that requires prudent leadership to continue to make the country more democratic to accommodate the interests of all different political groups.

In fact, the current problems are not down to democratization process; they rather stem from insufficient democracy and inefficiency on the part of the government and those who rule the country. Problems range from the corruption in the government to absence of good governance and rule of law.

One can therefore say that Afghanistan is going through a very critical juncture. International community has begun withdrawing their forces from the country, while the above-mentioned problems continue to hamper provision of security, economic development and efforts to bring tangible changes to Afghans' life.

This in fact demonstrates a very often-ignored point that the last ten years were wasted due to lack of a prudent leadership, which is very crucial for an emerging democracy. This is the only way to end conflict and bring peace because even the Taliban will not give up their Islamic Emirate in exchange of the current corrupt government of Afghanistan.

It will be difficult to rally public support for peace as long as the government remains corrupt and based on a centralized patronage network. So one can claim that Afghanistan is in need of an unavoidable political reforms that need to be discussed, supported and implemented by all Afghan and international stakeholders.