Govt not willing to form negotiating team: Political parties

KABUL (TOLO News: Members of three mainstream political parties on Sunday said the Afghan government is not willing to form a negotiating team and that it has “no intention” for peace.

The formation of the negotiation team, which was a main demand of the peace Jirga delegates, is counted as the main step for moving forward the peace process. The parties members said the Afghan government has “failed” to implement the suggestions of the Jirga delegates.

A ceasefire, formation of a negotiating team and expediting the peace efforts were the main demands of the peace Jirga delegates which ended on May 3.

“The president has not considered the suggestions made by the peace Jirga delegates,” said Abdullah Qarloq, the deputy head of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan.

“Unfortunately, government’s aim about the peace Jirga was not peace, but it was an attempt to create challenges on the way of peace; therefore, it does not have an intention for peace,” said Assadullah Saadati, member of Hizb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami party.

The Afghan government has not reached out members of mainstream political parties to consult on a strategy about the future of the peace talks with the Taliban, said Noor Rahman Akhlaqi, a Jamiat-e-Islami party member.

“Whenever there is the issue of negotiations, there is a need for a political consensus and this was not supposed to be the job of the Jirga. Therefore, the political parties and part of the government boycotted the event,” he added.

“I think the government should act upon its commitments. The discussions which were held in the peace Jirga were repetitions,” said former MP Fawzia Kofi.

Sources said the government has started consultations on the Jirga delegates suggestions.

This comes as the US and the Taliban talks in Doha ended earlier this month with “steady but slow” progress on key issues under debate as described by the United States chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad.