As insurgents ramp up offensive on key Afghan towns, President Ashraf Ghani met with prominent jihadi figures and political leaders on Thursday in an attempt to forge a wider consensus on some key challenges currently Afghanistan is grappling with – including the war on terror, fighting the endemic corruption, security issues, electoral reform and the peace process with the Taliban.
But, participants of the meeting have cautiously welcomed the initiative with many saying the leaders of the National Unity Government (NUG) in the wake of their two years of performance will not be able to implement the outcomes of these debates, particularly when it comes to the issue of peace process with militant groups.
“Discussions were held on the better management of the war and support of the security forces. It was also decided that the National Security Council and government should do more in promoting the peace process. It was recommended that these debates should continue with clear agendas over certain issues,” said Qazi Amin Weqad, member of the High Peace Council (HPC).
Attendees in the consultative meeting pushed government to take further robust actions against the high level officials allegedly involved in corruption in order to pursue an effective anti-corruption strategy.
“One of the recommendations was that the war on corruption should start from the high level officials, because if is started from the high levels, it would have better implications on the lower levels, but if it is started from the lower levels, this would be a useless attempt for bringing reforms,” said Mohammad Akbari leader of Herasat Islamic Party of Afghanistan.
“We recommended a serious discussion between the politicians and government, but not in a manner that one person waits in line and speaks a few words and government listens to it, but does not make any argument. We want a discussion between government and politicians who are willing to resolve the problem,” head of the New National Front of Afghanistan, Anwarulhaq Ahadi said.
This comes a time that according to reports government has so far convened 30 similar meetings with political and Jihadi figures in the country to discuss the security scenario and the peace process, but it is said that the gatherings have not yielded positive outcomes.http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/27801-ghani-discusses-peace-security-with-political-jihadi-figures
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