Afghanistan National Front (ANF) organized a public rally in Shibarghan, Jawzjan on Wednesday May 9, 2012 in which a large number of people (about 30,000) participated. Addressing to the crowd, the main leaders of the Front reiterated the thoughts and demands, which they have been pursuing since the formation of ANF. They welcomed the strategic agreement that has been signed between Afghanistan and US; however, they condemned that the President Hamid Karzai has been trying to manipulate some of the articles in the agreement for his own interests.

President Karzai, a day after signing the agreement mentioned in a press conference that the agreement favors the present form of government in Afghanistan i.e. the presidential form of government. However, the agreement uses the word "unitary" while mentioning the political system in Afghanistan.

It says, "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 that unitary system and presidential system are not the same. Moreover, it is possible to have parliamentary form of government even within a unitary system.

ANF has been insisting on a decentralized, parliamentary form of government; suggesting that the current presidential system is very much centralized as most of the powers lie with the president. Moreover, there has not been delegation of power in accordance to the constitution of Afghanistan. It also claims that the present presidential form of government can be amended in accordance to the constitution of Afghanistan; therefore, it is not unconstitutional to demand for a change in this form of government.

Debating the same issue, Hajji Muhammad Mohaqiq, said in the rally, "Our demand is in accordance with the constitution, it is just a misleading propaganda by the government that our demands are beyond constitution, I ask them to read the article 136 and 137 of the our constitution which support the decentralization of power and the set of our demands which is not depicted in the constitution, there are ways for the amendment of the constitution."

For true delegation of authority it is necessary that the local elections should be held in accordance to the schedule and constitution, while Afghanistan has been lacking much in this regard. Once the local units do not have their elected representatives there are always feelings of being repressed and ignored, while the constitution of the country does not suggest that.

Gen. Abdur Rashid Dostum, the other speaker in the rally said, "ANF supports peace initiative by any country either it is Qatar or Saudi Arabia but Taliban has to renounce the violence, lay down their weapons and detach them from Al-Qaeda… if they tried to regain power by violence the people of Afghanistan will resist and stand by their National Security Forces… We will not tolerate Taliban to lapse the rights of our women and civil society."

However, Taliban have not reacted with a very positive response as far as renouncing the violence is concerned. They have even rejected the welcoming calls of negotiations from Afghan and US authorities and have announced their Spring Offensive.

They were offered an office in Qatar so that they should be able to continue peace negotiations but that could not be successful because of their unacceptable demands. In fact, they have vehemently rejected the calls to negotiation and have shown least interest in that regard.

In addition, they have kept on violating the rights of women and civil society. Currently, they have threatened the schools in Ghazni and some other parts of the country, which has made the schools discontinue their education. The girls' schools in this regard have been suffering the most as they are threatened to be the primary target. It is really important to note that even after the repeated calls of Afghan government and the opposition to renounce violence, Taliban have continued their aggression; it clearly shows they are up to something very much heinous.

Ahmad Zia Massoud, the chairman of the ANF said, "Government is failed to fulfill the basic demand of the people. It is the time for a change since the present administration lost its capacity and the self-confidence to address the legitimate demand of people which is nothing but simple - a peaceful and honorable life… There won't be a single step back with regards to our righteous demand since this is the only way forward to bring peaceful balanced system and the only path toward an accountable system." There is no doubt that the government has failed in providing good governance to its people.

The issue of good governance is now a matter of concern for almost all the countries that are supporting Afghanistan. European Union has recently asked Karzai government to make serious efforts to curb corruption and make its governance transparent and effective. US, on various occasions, has kept on insisting that the government needs to address the basic issues related to its ill-governance as they have hindered the assistance and support to be used for the betterment of the people of Afghanistan and the government does not stand far away from the threshold of failure.

Haji Aman Khairi, speaking to thousands, said, "The demand of decentralization is not confined to a specific region, ethnic or lingual group of our country but it is a countrywide demand. The people of South and East also need the elected and fair local administration."

It is really important for Afghan government and the Western allies to consider the issue of decentralization of power seriously. If it is not important what ANF demands, they must assess what is best for Afghan society. How would it be possible for the government in Afghanistan to gain the support of the local units unless they are not given the authority to choose their representatives by themselves? They need to feel themselves a part of the country and the nation and for that they need to have their say in the affairs of the country, or at least of their own locality.