The Afghan High Peace Council (HPC) has, for the first time, spoken out about the preparations to open the Taliban’s political office in Kabul. According to the officials in this council, if the Taliban showed willingness to join the peace process, they would facilitate the opening of their office in Kabul.
In this regard, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the Afghan Chief Executive, said that if the Taliban were determined to engage in the negotiation process, there were no barrier on the way of the formation of their office in Kabul, lack of a specific address of the Taliban for peace talks is one of the key obstacles on the way of the peace process.
However, after the official inauguration of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar in 2013, the Afghan government did not recognize it. This office still exists and the Taliban still announce it as their only address for peace talks.
What are the outcomes of the HPC’s announcement about the possible opening of the Taliban’s office in Kabul? How much is this scheme feasible? Will the peace process succeed by such efforts? These are the questions that are analyzed here.
HPC and the peace talks with the Taliban
Considering the performance of HPC in the past seven years, one can say that this council would not arrive anywhere with its current peace strategy.
Officials in the Afghan government and HPC consider this council as mediator and the only address for peace talks at a time that, in the past seven years, this council has not even succeeded in establishing contact with the main party of the Taliban.
Lack of the required authority and independence, the presence of the government officials in its formation, utilizations of the positions in HPC as political bribe, the presence of anti-Taliban figures in this council, lack of coordination among its members, the issue of the conception of “peace”, and overall lack of a specific mechanism and strategy for peace talks are the main impediments that hinder the triumph of HPC’s efforts.
Since HPC is established by the government, it can play an efficient role as the representative of the government in the peace talks, but recognizing it as the only mediator of the peace negotiations and thus preventing the formation of an impartial mediator party is a serious hinder on the way of the peace process.
The findings of a recent survey by the Center for Strategic and Regional Studies (CSRS) also indicate that the majority of the people (76.39%) believe that HPC cannot play the role of mediator in the reconciliation process and that the formation of a real and impartial mediator party was essential for the success of the this process.
The Taliban, as the main party of the peace talks, recognize this council as a government organ and target its members as their enemy.
Therefore, if one evaluates HPC in one sentence, one can say that this council do not have a tangible achievement in the peace process and its preservation as the only door for peace talks and mediation would not lead the country anywhere; however, keeping it as the representative of the government would lead to the success of the reconciliations.
An Office for the Taliban in Kabul?
Talking to the media, the spokesperson of the Taliban has stated that the Taliban did not want any office from the Afghan government. In the meanwhile, he reiterated on the Taliban’s old stance about the complete withdrawal of the foreign forces from Afghanistan.
In an environment of mistrust, where the government calls the Taliban as a proxy, wild, and alien group and the Taliban do not recognize the Afghan government, the announcement of such a scheme, despite being a good step to show the good will of the government, does not seem realistic.
In order to prevent the bloodshed in the country and commence the real peace talks, there is a serious need to build trust between the parties engaged in war by an impartial mediator party, as the first step. The formation of an office is something that is feasible through mutual talks and agreements, not through announcing messages to the Taliban through the media!
Coincide with the announcement of the scheme to open an office for the Taliban in Kabul, HPC shared the news about a gathering in Indonesia as well. While organizing a gathering to condemn the Taliban does not heal any pain, through the formation of an impartial mediator group, acceptable for both parties, HPC could reduce the distance between the Afghan government and the Taliban and eliminate the obstacles that prevent the success of the peace talks.
Practical efforts to start the peace talks
While talking about the real peace talks, before the formation of any office or address for the Taliban, the following points are worth mentioning about establishing a real mediator group and building trust between the engaged parties:
First; the realistic peace strategies and mechanisms: the Afghan government is yet to have a specific peace mechanism and strategy. Sometimes, the Afghan government try to enter the peace process through the door of foreign policy, particularly through engaging Pakistan in the peace process and, some other times, the Afghan government want to bring the Taliban to the negotiation table by force, and sometimes it undertakes some other useless strategies to achieve this end. Therefore, instead of calling the Taliban as an alien and non-Afghan group, the recognition of this group as part of the nation would itself be a positive change of the past failed policies and would open the doors for peace.
Second; recognition of some realities on behalf of the Taliban: although the Taliban continue their current war under the “war against the foreigners”, the Taliban must realize the facts that the victims of the war are Afghans, the Afghan government is a reality, and that negotiations with the government is the only way for peace in the country. If the foreigners wanted peace in the country, peace would have been maintained years ago.
Third; preconditions: the withdrawal of foreign soldier from Afghanistan as preconditions of the peace talks on behalf of the Taliban, to stop the war and accept the current Afghan constitution by the Afghan government were the preconditions of the two parties until now. However, the peace experience in the world has shown that such issues were discussed around a table and were resolved. Nevertheless, HPC has recently announced that it has no precondition for the commencement of the peace talks with the Taliban but in practice such preconditions have led the peace process to a deadlock.
Fourth; to substitute the war strategy with the peace policy: based on a recent report by SIGAR, the Taliban controls over the 40% of the Afghan territory and, in the Afghan issue, they are a force to be reckoned with politically and militarily. In the past one and half decades, the war has continually increased. Therefore, insisting on the war strategy is a betrayal of Afghans. As long as the strategy of suppression and war and the usage of the term “peace” in the sense of the Taliban’s surrender to the government is not altered to a real peace policy, the current peace process would not produce desired outcomes.
Fifth; the US and international community’s role: although after the withdrawal of a greater part of the foreign forces, the current war is not being fought among Afghans, the foreign forces are still present in the country and, in every statement and conference, the Taliban indicate this point. Therefore, one of the elements behind the failure of this process is that the US does not see itself as a party of the issue and tries to play the role of a mediator, as the presence of the US in the quadrilateral talks.
Sixth; a real willingness for peace: currently, the Afghan government is facing many challenges. While some governors and a commanders do not obey the decree of the President, how can peace with the Taliban, which puts the interests of some people at risk, be accepted in the country?! Therefore, as long as those who oppose peace are present in the formation of the government, the government would not have a real willingness for the peace process and the current peace efforts will not produce any tangible outcomes.
The End