KABUL: Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah dismissed Tuesday a new peace proposal by his election rival President Ashraf Ghani as an unrealistic “wishlist,” and again questioned the validity of thousands of votes from recent polls.
US President Donald Trump in September ended year-long talks with the Taliban amid ongoing insurgent violence, leaving Afghans wondering what comes next in the gruelling conflict.
Ghani’s team last month released a seven-point proposal meant to build on those talks and bring an end to Afghanistan’s 18-year-old war with the Taliban.
While some observers have praised aspects of the detailed proposal for its scope, they question whether certain elements — including a call for a month-long Taliban cease-fire before talks resume — are feasible.
“To be honest, nobody has taken that so-called seven-point plan as a plan... it’s rather a wishlist,” Abdullah said in an interview with AFP.
“Nobody is taking it seriously — neither the people of Afghanistan, nor anybody.”
The US-Taliban negotiations centered on the Pentagon pulling troops in return for Taliban security guarantees, but drew scorn from Ghani’s government, which was systematically cut out because the insurgents do not recognize the administration.
Abdullah said it is imperative for any future talks to include negotiators from the Afghan government, be it led by him or by Ghani.
Any negotiating team “has to be inclusive. Government has to be a part of that,” Abdullah, 59, said in his sprawling official compound next to the presidential palace in the center of Kabul.
Abdullah is locked in a bitter election race with his next-door neighbor Ghani.
The two rivals squared off in a first-round vote on September 28 and election officials have repeatedly delayed announcing initial results, citing various technical problems.
In 2014, Ghani and Abdullah fought a close and angry race that sparked widespread allegations of fraud and saw the US step in to broker an awkward power-sharing agreement between the rivals under a unity government.
Abdullah’s position, not mentioned in the constitution, was created to end ongoing disputes that threatened political collapse.
There are signs this year’s election risks a repeat of 2014, with both Ghani’s and Abdullah’s camps alleging fraud.
But Abdullah, who has previously said he believes he secured the most votes, said he would “absolutely” respect the result of recent polls — if the process is fair and transparent.
On Monday, his team said problems remained with about 300,000 of the 1.8 million votes that the Independent Election Commission has said are valid.
The IEC had failed to communicate to the public what is happening in the counting process, Abdullah said, and “they have not explained it transparently to our representatives... more transparency is needed.”
This year’s vote is supposed to be the cleanest yet in Afghanistan’s young democracy, with a German firm supplying biometric machines meant to stop people from voting more than once.
But Abdullah said problems remain even with these high-tech votes, claiming that photos attached to some ballots had been taken from fake identity cards, and not actual voters.
Already, nearly a million of the initial votes cast have been purged owing to irregularities, meaning the recent election saw by far the lowest turnout of any Afghan poll.
With Afghanistan’s war the overarching concern, presidential candidates’ policy positions were often drowned out by US-Taliban talks, and for a while it looked like the election would get shunted aside to make way for ongoing negotiations.
When asked how he differs from Ghani, Abdullah said the president has proven himself to be a divisive figure who failed to live up to his promises, including his pledge to root out the rampant corruption endemic across the Afghan government.
He also accused Ghani of prioritising his grip on power over striving for peace.
Ghani’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Afghan chief executive slams president’s ‘wishlist’ peace plan
Afghan chief executive slams president’s ‘wishlist’ peace plan
- Abdullah said it is imperative for any future talks to include negotiators from the Afghan government
- Abdullah’s position, not mentioned in the constitution, was created to end ongoing disputes that threatened political collapse
Furious farmers roll hundreds of tractors into Paris in fresh protests
- “We won’t leave without measures that allow us to catch our breath a little,” said another protester, Guillaume Moret
PARIS: Around 350 tractors rolled into Paris on Tuesday, driving down the Champs-Elysees avenue and setting up camp near the parliament building, as farmers protested a litany of woes including a trade deal the EU has struck with four South American countries.
The protests reflect a deep sense of malaise afflicting France’s agricultural sector, with the planned signing of an accord between the EU and the Mercosur bloc seen as the last straw.
French farmers have complained of climate and economic uncertainties and have since December staged protests and set up roadblocks over the government’s handling of a lumpy skin disease outbreak.
BACKGROUND
The protests reflect a deep sense of malaise afflicting France’s agricultural sector, with the planned signing of an accord between the EU and the Mercosur bloc seen as the last straw.
“We’re at the end of our tether,” said one of the activists, Guillaume Moret, 56.
“We haven’t made any money from our farms for three years. Politicians are incapable of giving us any direction,” said the head of the FNSEA union for the region of Ile-de-France around Paris.
The FNSEA, France’s leading agricultural union, and another union, Jeunes Agriculteurs, are demanding “concrete and immediate action” from the government.
Arriving from towns around Paris but also from the Hauts-de-France region of northern France, the protesters parked their tractors not far from parliament’s lower house, the National Assembly, in central Paris.
“The peasant revolt continues,” read a banner unfurled in front of the legislature.
In an apparent attempt to pacify the protesters, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has allowed the activists to set up camp near the National Assembly building, a source close to the matter said.
Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon told broadcaster TF1 that “dialogue” with farmers continued.
The first convoy of about fifteen tractors rolled into the French capital shortly before 6:00 am (0500 GMT). Joined by dozens of others, they drove down the Champs-Elysees honking their horns.
“We won’t leave without measures that allow us to catch our breath a little,” said another protester, Guillaume Moret.
Some, equipped with trailers, had brought mattresses and duvets.
Several days before the planned signing of the EU-Mercosur agreement in Paraguay, the FNSEA union reiterated its opposition to the deal and also listed several national “priorities” to be defended on Tuesday.
The union is calling on the government to address a number of issues including wolf predation and the use of fertilizers.
French police said some 400 protesters had gathered near the building housing the National Assembly.
Most of the European Union’s 27 nations back the Mercosur trade deal, which supporters argue is crucial to boost exports, help the continent’s ailing economy and foster diplomatic ties at a time of global uncertainty.
The deal, more than 25 years in the making, would create one of the world’s largest free-trade areas, boosting commerce between the EU
and the Mercosur bloc comprising Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.
It would see the European Union export machinery, chemicals and pharmaceuticals with lowered tariffs applied.
But farmers in France and several other countries fear being undercut by an influx of cheap beef and other agricultural products from South America.
Thousands of farmers in France and Ireland staged protests over the weekend.
In France, politicians across the divide have also been up in arms against the deal, which they view as an assault on the country’s influential farming sector.
Last week, protesters from Coordination Rurale, the second largest union, also brought their tractors into Paris.
