Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement

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Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his US counterpart Barrack Obama signed the "Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement between Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the United States of America" on May 02, 2012. Obama, reached Kabul on an unannounced trip on Tuesdsay, May 01, 2012. The deal was signed by both the Presidents at about midnight. Both the Presidents hoped that the agreement would play a positive role in establishing peace in Afghanistan.

There is no doubt that this strategic deal is going to play a very important role in the future socio-political scenario in Afghanistan; however, it is important that some of the basic points of the deal should be studied thoroughly so as to have a realistic approach towards the cooperation and its outcomes. 

Discussed under the heading "Protecting and Promoting Shared Democratic Values", the agreement says, "Underscoring the central importance of the values and principle of the Afghan Constitution, Afghanistan reaffirms its strong commitment to inclusive and pluralistic democratic governance, including free, fair and transparent elections in which all the people of Afghanistan participate freely without internal or external interference.

Reaffirming its commitments made at the 2011 Bonn Conference, Afghanistan shall strengthen and improve its electoral process." Afghan government has not been able to provide either inclusive or pluralistic democratic governance.

International Community on various occasions have emphasized that Afghanistan must make improvements as far as its governance is concerned but no tangible measure has been taken in this regard. Instead of making improvements, Afghanistan has been able to strengthen corruption. It is believed that most of the aid and assistance that have reached to Afghanistan has been devoured by corruption as the country stands to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. 

As far as elections are concerned, the prospects are not very bright. Afghan authorities need to make sure and the Western allies must put pressure and provide assistant that the 2014 elections must be held on time and must not have the drawbacks that were present in 2009 Presidential elections.

A free and fair election is not possible through mere verbal insistence; it has to be achieved through practical efforts. Currently, there are clear controversies regarding the schedule of elections. The presidential office has suggested to prepone the election or postpones it; both of which happen to be deviation from constitution.

Few months earlier, President Karzai appointed five new commissioners of the Independent Election Commission and there have been efforts on government's part to keep the international community distant from the process. It is really important to address these issues appropriately if a fair and free election has to be held in 2014.

In addition, measure must be carried out to ensure that election schedule is not disturbed. To strengthen election system it must be made sure that improvements are brought in the polling systems that can help the people of Afghanistan participate without complications in the elections and have their true representatives in parliament.

Moreover, there are margins of improvements in the arbitration system and voter registrations. Authorities have to bring more innovations in this regard and make sure that maximum number of people participates in elections. Above all, the rampant corruption must not be allowed by the Afghan government and the supporting countries and organizations to ruin the elections.    

Under the same heading mentioned above, it is encouraging to see emphasis on Afghanistan to protect human and political rights under its constitution and international obligations. The agreement, at the same instance, mentions, "Afghanistan shall strengthen the integrity and capacity of its democratic institutions and processes, including by taking tangible steps to further the efficiency and effectiveness of its three branches of state, within its unitary system of government and supporting development of a vibrant civil society, including a free and open media".

 It should be noted here that the emphasis on the unitary system of government seems deliberate here. This emphasis seems to suggest that Afghan government structure can only be unitary, while Afghanistan can opt for itself any form of government in accordance to the constitution.

This particular mention of the unitary system may be driven by Karzai's over-emphasis for a strict unitary and presidential form of government in the recent times to counter the demands of parliamentary and decentralized form of government by the opposition parties.

By emphasizing on a strict unitary form of government Karzai may be looking at creating a completely centralized government; however, even that option is not as per the constitution. The constitution of Afghanistan says, "The government, while preserving the principle of centralism, shall – in accordance with the law – delegate certain authorities to local administration units for the purpose of expediting and promoting economic, social, and cultural affairs, and increasing the participation of people in the development of the nation." (Article 137). It is possible, even under the unitary form of government, that powers may be delegated to the local units and when the local units are diverse like that of Afghanistan, the necessity to delegate authorities becomes even more important.

For Advancing Long-term Security the agreement says that both the countries will cooperate with one another to fight terrorism. However, only Al-Qaeda has been mentioned as a potential threat for Afghanistan and the region.

Taliban has not been mentioned as a threat for the country though they have not yet agreed to respect the constitution of Afghanistan and have not denounced militancy. They have vehemently rejected all the invitations for negotiations as well and do not seem in the mood to talk. Even on the same day when the agreement was signed they carried out a lethal attack in the capital Kabul.

An important decision regarding Advancing Long-term Security is that "the Parties (US and Afghanistan) shall, subject to their internal procedures, initiate negotiations on a Bilateral Security Agreement. Negotiations should begin after the signing of this Strategic Partnership Agreement to supersede the Agreement regarding the Status of United States Military and Civilian Personnel of the US Department of Defense Present in Afghanistan in connection with Cooperative Efforts in Response to Terrorism, Humanitarian, and Civic Assistance, Military Training and Exercises, and Other Activities (2003)". 

In the same regard, the pact mentions, "To help provide a long-term framework for mutual security and defense cooperation, the United States shall designate Afghanistan a "Major Non-NATO Ally,"" which should be really encouraging for Afghanistan. Moreover, the agreement mentions, "Beyond 2014, the United States shall seek funds, on a yearly basis, to support the training, equipping, advising and sustaining of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), so that Afghanistan can independently secure and defend itself against internal and external threats, and help ensure that terrorists never again encroach on Afghan soil and threaten Afghanistan, the region and the world." 

It is a crystal clear fact that Afghanistan is going to need a tremendous economic support after the withdrawal of international troops in 2014 to maintain its military which would fight the growing threats of terrorism in the country.

As mentioned above US will fund Afghan National Army to a great extent – it will provide for most of the expenditure and train Afghan soldiers as well; however, there have not been very definite decisions. It has not been mentioned how much will be paid to Afghanistan by US so as to support its security forces. The international community has not yet come up with the ways of compensating for about $ 4 billion annually (estimated figure for the Afghan forces after decreasing their number). Hopefully these matters will be solved in the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago.

Moreover, the agreement does not mention the actual number of US forces that would stay in Afghanistan after 2014 and there have not been clear discussion regarding the permanent US bases. However, US had earlier mentioned that it does not have any interest in maintaining permanent bases in Afghanistan. It is expected that final decisions regarding the US bases would be taken later. The suggested Bilateral Security Agreement may conclude these issues but they have to be determined, after all. 

It is also important to observe that while emphasizing on reconciliation for Advancing Long-term Security, there is no emphasis on making the process inclusive and Afghanized in real sense of the term.
The pact also makes it clear that US would not interfere in Afghanistan's relations with the region.

It says, "The Parties agree on the importance of Afghanistan having cooperative and friendly relations with its neighbors, and emphasize that such relations should be conducted on the basis of mutual respect, non-interference, and equality. They call on all nations to respect Afghanistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs and democratic processes."

The neighboring countries, especially Pakistan and Iran have been very much serious about the presence of US in their immediate neighborhood. Moreover, Pakistan on various occasions has condemned the drone attacks on their land through Afghanistan. Iran, no wonder, has always been critical of US's presence in its immediate neighborhood. The US and Afghanistan, on the other hand, have been very much critical of Pakistan's and Iran's interference in Afghanistan's affairs. So, if the policy of non-interference is adopted, as mentioned above, there can be improvements in the relations.   

It is worthwhile to mention that US will cooperate with Afghanistan, both socially and economically, to make the country stand on its own. US agrees that "noting Afghanistan's priorities, the United States shall help strengthen Afghanistan's economic foundation and support sustainable development and self-sufficiency, particularly in the areas of licit agricultural production, transportation, trade, transit, water, and energy infrastructure; fostering responsible management of natural resources and building a strong financial system, which is needed to sustain private investment". 

However, it should not go unmentioned that establishing a strong economic infrastructure in Afghanistan would require a very determined effort. Peace and security, as well, will influence the economy to a great extent. Without sustainable peace it is really difficult to a reliable economic growth.

Worth mentioning commitments in the agreement regarding social sphere of life in Afghanistan are "enhancing the quality of education, including higher education and vocational training in key areas for all Afghans", "access to basic health services and specialized care, including for women and children" and special emphasis to underscore the crucial importance of the fight against corruption.

There is no doubt that it is only after the arrival of international community in Afghanistan that there has been emphasis on Human Rights especially children and women rights and there have been stress to control corruption.

Even recently European Union's special representative to Afghanistan Vygaudas Usackas warned Afghan President Karzai on corruption in Afghanistan suggesting that future development aid for Afghanistan would be fully dependent on good governance and fighting corruption. However, Afghan government has not been able to produce appreciable results in this regard. It is necessary to carry out practical and tough measures to control the growing corruption in Afghanistan.

Through the agreement, US also agrees to support Afghanistan in strengthening its institutions and governance. It would be taken care of that "Afghanistan shall improve governance by increasing the responsiveness and transparency of Afghan executive, legislative and judicial institutions so that they better meet the civil and economic needs of the Afghan people.

It shall promote efficiency and accountability at all the levels of the government, consistent with Afghan law and ensure that they provide services according to fair and objectively applied procedures and consistent with national standards for minimum service delivery".

It should be noted that there can be improvement in Afghan institutions once they are made really democratic. In a centralized government with most of the authorities lying with the president will not help in building a strong and transparent executive, legislature and judiciary. It is important that they should be allowed to function on their own without being over-dominated by the president.

Dilawar Sherzai is the permanent writer of the Daily outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at dilawar.sherzai@gmail.com

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