KABUL: Afghan senior government officials have claimed that President Ashraf Ghani will propose a new presidential election within six months, under a peace plan he will put forward as a counter-offer to a United States proposal that he rejects.
The government officials on condition of anonymity told a news agency, “The counterproposal which we are going to present at the Istanbul meeting in Turkey next month would be to call for early presidential elections if the Taliban agree on a ceasefire,”
“Ashraf Ghani would never agree to step aside and any future government should be formed through a democratic process, not a political deal,” they said. Ghani’s proposal would include possible early polls, adding that the president had already shared his road map with US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.
The Afghan officials further said that as part of Ghani’s counter-offer, his government would ask the UN to closely observe the new poll to make sure it is accepted by all sides. On the other hand, a presidential palace spokesman declined to comment on the matter.
With just weeks left before a closing date it concords with the Taliban in 2020 to end the longest war in U.S. history, Washington is looking for regional backing for its move toward pushing the Afghan government and rebellious to share power.
However, foreign officials and diplomats have said it will be difficult to move forward with the US plans without Ghani’s support. During a visit to the region, which included stops in Doha and Islamabad, Khalilzad pushed for a discussion to be hosted by Turkey with involvement from the United Nations next month.
Washington, which agreed last year to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by May 1 after nearly two decades, is pressing for a peace deal to end the war between the government and the Taliban. Talks between the Afghan sides in Qatar have stalled.
Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been circulating an offer that would replace the Kabul government with an interim administration. Nevertheless Ghani has voiced fervent opposition to any result that needs his government to step aside for unelected descendants.
Peace talks between the Afghan government and insurgent Taliban in Qatar’s capital Doha have made little progress, while violence has increased in the region.
The Taliban — fighting the foreign-backed government since being ousted from power by Afghan opponents and US airstrikes in late 2001 — have so far rejected a ceasefire and said they would not directly join an interim government. Ghani was sworn in as president for a second five-year term in March last year after a disputed presidential election.
