Afghan President Says Ready to Advance Talks With Taliban

Date: 06 March 2021 - 21:50

News ID: ۸۸۲۶۸

KABUL (Dispatches) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Saturday, in a bid to push forward talks with the Taliban, that his government was ready to discuss holding fresh elections, insisting that any new government should emerge through the democratic process.
"Transfer of power through elections is a non-negotiable principle for us,” Ghani told lawmakers at the opening of parliament session in Kabul.
"We stand ready to discuss holding free, fair and inclusive elections under the auspices of international community. We can also talk about the date of the elections and reach a conclusion.
President Ghani met U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad in Kabul last week to discuss ways to inject momentum in the stalled negotiations with Taliban representatives being held in Qatar. After his talks in Kabul, Khalilzad went to Qatar.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has begun a review of its strategy for Afghanistan, including an agreement reached with the Taliban in early 2020 that paved the way for talks between the militants and the Afghan government.
Ghani said the only way to form a government should be through an election.
"I advise those who go to this or that gate to gain power is that political power in Afghanistan has a gate, and the key is the vote of the Afghan people,” he said.
"Any institution can write a fantasy on a piece of paper and suggest a solution for Afghanistan. These papers have been written in the past and will be written in the future. Our guarantee is our constitution.”
Meanwhile, the Taliban said on Saturday, Washington’s special envoy to Afghanistan met with the Taliban in Qatar as efforts intensify to revive the so-called peace process faced with mounting violence and a U.S. troop withdrawal deadline.
Taliban spokesman Muhamad Naeem tweeted that Khalilzad and the top U.S. general in Afghanistan met with the militants’ negotiating team in Doha, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, late Friday.
"Both sides expressed their commitment to the Doha agreement and discussed its full implementation. Likewise, the current situation of Afghanistan and the rapidity and effectiveness of the Intra-Afghan negotiations were discussed,” he wrote.
Speculation is rife over America’s future in Afghanistan, after the White House announced plans to review a withdrawal deal brokered in Doha last year.