Winners and Losers of Afghan Loya Jirga

2019/05/15 | Opinion, Politics

Strategic Council Online: In a general assessment, it can be concluded that Mr. Ashraf Ghani played a successful game by holding the recent Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) meeting. Pir Mohammad Mollazehi - Subcontinent Affairs Expert

The Loya Jirga meeting on Afghan peace was held from April 9 to May 4. The meeting was attended by 3200 delegates from across Afghanistan by issuing a 23-point resolution and closing address of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

However, the Loya Jirga faced several problems; first, within the ruling establishment, the part pertaining to Abdullah Abdullah and the Northern alliance team boycotted the meeting. Meanwhile, political parties and jihadi figures, in addition to the Taliban, boycotted the Loya Jirga. Therefore, the gap created within the establishment was further deepened by holding the Loya Jirga.

From another angle, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai took some action in this meeting, which seems to have succeeded. Because in talks with the Taliban, the Americans had bypassed Mr. Ghani and political groups too had ignored him.

Earlier, in the traditional Loya Jirga, and in critical circumstances, religious scholars, tribal leaders and influential people in the capital city and other regions used to be present and make decisions, but Mr. Ghani breached the tradition and convened a Loya Jirga comprising people who were not considered in political equations. He went to villages, small towns and large cities to find people who were not really important and who contributed a young generation to the Loya Jirga. At the same time, women accounted for 25 to 30 percent of the delegates.

These actions were totally new, and in some way strengthened the argument that Ashraf Ghani is sending this message to his opponents, that he enjoys a good social base among the people. The Afghan president also sent the message to Washington that they could not ignore him, and the Taliban also realized that if they want to achieve peace, they should reach agreement with the Central Government.

Under such circumstances, taking into account the 23 point resolution issued at the end of the Loya Jirga confab in which recommendations were made to the government, the Taliban, the United States and the international community, it can be said that Ashraf Ghani is a complicated actor who has been able to make more picks and make the parties understand that they are not be able to ignore him in the upcoming elections. Therefore, in a general assessment, it can be concluded that Mr. Ashraf Ghani played a successful game by holding the recent Loya Jirga.

Regarding the Taliban vision on Loya Jirga meeting, it should be noted that the group from the outset evaluated it as an illegitimate and propaganda move for Ashraf Ghani and did not accept the results; the Taliban rejected the Loya Jirga requests of the group, including a ceasefire during Ramadan saying that they will continue to fight especially that an article included in the final statement indicated that the statement came from a think tank and was the fruit of the sympathy and consultation of a number of educated and political people.

In this part of the statement, the Taliban have been asked to observe a month-long ceasefire in Ramadan and stop the war and killings. But the Taliban did not accept the demand and said they would continue the jihad. This Taliban response will entail two problems for them: first, against whom will they wage their jihad? Because they do not operate against the American forces and it is the people of Afghanistan and innocent civilians who are killed. Therefore, the Loya Jirga has questioned the very essence of the Taliban jihad. Another point is that during Ramadan which is a holy month in the Islamic World, the Taliban will continue the war and killing while the government’s ceasefire proposal is a wiser move.

Therefore, by raising the issue, Ashraf Ghani has thrown the ball in Taliban court. On the other hand, in the Loya Jirga, it was said that there are different readings of Islam and that religious scholars should set a single reading of Islam. This is very difficult for the Taliban because many religious scholars neither endorse wars during Ramadan nor jihad against Muslims. From their point of view, jihad must be against the infidels. As a result, the Loya Jirga has put the Taliban in a sensitive position by raising these issues, although the Taliban have shown a negative attitude and stated that they will continue to operate not only during Ramadan, but also will intensify the jihad. This stance has brought the Taliban under question ideologically before the public.

Ashraf Ghani | Loya jirga | Pir Mohammad Mollazehi

https://scfr.ir/en/?p=101882

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