Ismail calls Jamiat Party’s Congress, election ‘fake’

KABUL (Tolo News): Mohammad Ismail Khan, a senior member of Jamiat-e-Islami party and a former mujahedeen leader, said the party congress that was held last week was “fake” and that the leaders of Jamiat who attended the event thought it was aimed at building a consensus among political parties around peace.

The meeting was held by one faction of the Jamiat party, which is led by Ata Mohammad Noor. Khan said that regarding the recent rift between Salauddin Rabani and Ata Mohammad Noor, he supports neither of them and he warned against division within the party.

“When we went to the meeting, during that meeting, its direction changed and they mentioned the party congress. I tried very hard to prevent this and told them that no standard has been met for a party congress,” he said. “We should make a logical decision for the upcoming Turkey conference so that we hopefully mobilize Jamiat members’ views on major decision-making,” Khan said.

The Jamiat-e-Islami faction led by Noor did not comment on the claims, but the mobilization council of the party said that they are working on a mechanism to overcome the rift. “If they do not come together in a structured way, they should at least have some representatives so that one voice is heard from this big identity that has always fought for values,” said Abdul Rahim, the head of the council.

Salahuddin Rabbani, the acting head of the rival Jamiat-e-Islami faction, has said that he will not allow Jamiat’s voice to be silenced in the upcoming Istanbul conference on Afghan peace. “We will not allow the disgraceful experience of the Bonn conference to be imposed on our people once again and we should not stay calm about such a situation,” Rabbani said. The rift between Noor and Rabbani over the leadership of the party began eight months ago. In a controversial congress meeting of the party last week, Noor was elected head of the party.