Challenges grow in Afghanistan

The cleavage between political figures on the one hand and the state and nation on the other has resurfaced in Afghanistan following a series of issues. Political controversies loom large with parliamentary and provincial elections around the corner.

A few days ago, Afghanistan’s national security adviser Hanif Atmar resigned due to “serious differences over policies and principles with the government leadership”.

The main reason behind his resignation seemed to be Afghanistan’s refusal to attend peace talks which Russia decided to host but canceled later. But a source was cited as saying that Atmar resigned in order to run in next year’s presidential election. The presidential palace, which soon named Afghan ambassador to the US Hamdullah Mohib as his replacement, said that his resignation was requested due to the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Atmar, who held a political position in the Soviet-backed government in the late 1980s, is still seen as close to Russia. He became national security adviser in late 2014. However, the public asked for his resignation several times in social media due to the deteriorating security situation.

The news about the appointment of Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-American who served as US ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations, as US special envoy to Afghanistan has also triggered worries among nonPashtun groups. Although the US is seeking to step up peace talks through his appointment, a number of individuals accuse him of being biased and ethno-centrist.

They claim that Khalilzad’s appointment as US special envoy will put weight behind President Ashraf Ghani’s political party and increase the possibility of his victory in 2019 presidential election.

Meanwhile, political parties launched a demonstration in Kabul urging the government to allow representatives of political parties to monitor the conduct of elections and change the current Single Non-Transferrable Vote system to a transferable vote system.

Political rifts

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War-weary Afghans have been the victims of officials’ political rifts and corruption. A number of officials are believed to exercise ethnic discrimination, being involved in corruption and abuse of power. These issues generated further challenges.

Hence, Afghan people have urged the government to put an end to such issues and conduct the upcoming parliamentary and provincial elections, which will be held on Oct 20, in a fair and free way.

But the challenges will continue since there is no effective mechanism to address them. It is believed that the 2019 presidential election will encounter many challenges since the differences and political rivalries between political parties have reached their climax.

In brief, Afghanistan is embroiled in many challenges and it will take time to tackle the issues. The political syndrome has lingered for almost two decades and will continue at least for one more decade.

Afghanistan’ allies will have to alleviate the challenges rather than aggravate them. If Khalilzad’s appointment creates new challenges for the country, the US has to revise this issue. Moreover, the international community should support Afghanistan in tackling the challenges regarding the elections and narrow the gap between the political parties.