The recently appointed chairman of the High Peace Council (HPC), Pir Sayed Ahmad Gillani, appears to have major differences with his senior staff, six of them have resigned as a result.
According to documents leaked to TOLOnews, Gillani has appointed 60 more guards for his house, adding a further financial burden of 18 million Afs on the government annually. This was one of the main reasons leading to the resignations of key managers of the HPC.
Gillani was appointed as new chairman of the HPC four months ago. Since then, relations between him and the HPC secretariat have been strained over a number of issues.
According to the documents Farhadullah Farhad, deputy head of the HPC secretariat, Abdul Rahman Hamid, head of the media department, Zirak Saifi, head of the planning department, Abdul Hannan Aziz, head of the monitoring, Sayed Burhan Hashemi, head of the finance department and Sayed Ahmad Qarib Muneeb, head of the department of HPC provincial affairs department have all resigned from their posts due to their disagreements with Gillani.
The leaked papers show that Mohammad Ayoub Rafiqi, head of the secretariat of the peace council ordered his deputy to formally accept the resignation of the six officials.
However, on 28 June, Mohammad Wali Naeemi, head of the office of HPC chairman announced that Gillani disagreed with to the resignations of the six officials and had asked them to continue their jobs.
“Our political elites and personalities use all means possible to get into key positions, but as soon as they occupy their desired position, they start working on private interests rather than their main duty,” MP Sayed Nadir Shah Bahr said.
The document shows that the number of security guards for Gillani has been increased from 30 to 90 guards. His house has also been barricaded with additional barriers and armored check points.
Hiring additional 60 guards has cost the government budget another 18 million Afs per year.
“Technically, the appointment of Mr. Gillani as head of the HPC was not proper. As a result the current problems we witness today, emerge form the same issue,” political analyst Nasir Ahmad Tarakai said.
The HPC so far has not commented on the matter.
Commenting on the leaked document, presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said the HPC is an independent body in terms of its structure and operates independently. Any assessment of the work of the council should be evaluated in terms of the progress in the peace process,” he said.
The much-awaited peace process gathered fresh momentum following the appointment of Gillani as new chairman of the peace council. However, no breakthroughs towards for peace under Gillani as HPC chief have been achieved.http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/26116-leaked-documents-reveal-tensions-over-peace-council-boss
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