Peace Jirga will reflect greater voice of Afghans: Taheri

KABUL (TOLO news): A spokesman for the High Peace Council (HPC), Ehsan Taheri, on Sunday said that work has started on the selection of delegates for the upcoming consultative Jirga on peace.

President Ashraf Ghani has assigned Umer Daudzai, head of the HPC secretariat, to organize the Jirga. According to Daudzai, almost 2,000 delegates will attend the Jirga and 30 percent of them will be women.

“The voice of the faithful people of Afghanistan will be raised at the Loya Jirga regarding the explanation of a mechanism for peace and reconciliation and also the establishment of a framework for peace talks,” Taheri said.

Critics suggest that it will be better to conduct a referendum on the status of the Taliban in the society.

They said that there is possibility that the fate of peace jirga will be similar to the consultative Jirga which was held in 2013 which voted for signing of the bilateral security agreement but the decision was opposed by former President Hamid Karzai.

“It will be better if we go towards referendum with the help of the US and the international community so that we could determine the popularity of the Taliban among the people,” said Zakaria Zakaria, a former MP.

“The people still have their reservations about the Jirga,” said Gul Ahmad Rasuli, a senator.

Faramarz Tamanna, a presidential candidate, said the agenda of the Jirga is not clear so far.

“The agenda of the Jirga is vague. Still we don’t know that what government really wants to bring at the Jirga to seek endorsement of the people. Secondly, what is the need for Jirga while we the legal and judicial institutions working in Afghanistan in the past 18 years,” Tamanna said.

The office of Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, meanwhile, said the consultative Jirga is aimed at bringing Afghans under a united platform.

“The national unity government is committed to providing the ground a wider environment for people where they will hold discussions and consultations so that we can attain recommendations and views of the public on this major national process,” said Omid Maisam, deputy spokesman to CEO.

The Jirga, which is a traditional assembly of Afghan delegates from all layers of the society, was initially scheduled for March 17. However, government announced April 29 as a new date for the Jirga.