KABUL – A new study conducted by the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies(AISS) on a potential political settlement in Afghanistan suggests that theestablishment of an interim government can be taken as a solution to theconflict in Afghanistan, TOLO News has reported.link
The study titled “Political Settlement of the Afghanistan Conflict:Divergent Models” states that the Taliban is willing for the establishmentof an interim government.However, the study warns that if the conditions for the establishment of aninterim government are not taken into consideration, this will lead to thepolitical collapse of the present government.
The study explores and analyses different possibilities of a politicalsettlement in Afghanistan.
It basically assesses the prospects of four different forms of politicalsettlement: the inclusion of insurgents in the elections, decentralizationof power, power sharing, and an interim government.
The study says the Taliban’s lack of willingness to participate in thesystem through national elections can be explained by several factors.
The Taliban abhorred from recognizing the current representative democracyfor two reasons, the research says, adding that first, they claim that ithas been imposed by the western superpower, the US, and second, the Talibanclaims that representative democracy is not compatible with Islamic Shariabased on their own reading.
“Instead, they (Taliban) refer to their version of government as IslamicEmirate, which is a theocratic government,” the study says.
“Findings of the study show that the Taliban are not willing to join ademocratic system, but they are willing to ponder to some kind of strategysuch as peace process, political settlement, transition or interimgovernment,” said AISS researcher Omar Sadr.
“Religion-based system has not given positive result anywhere in the world.But I don’t know what is the Taliban’s perspective for Afghanistan,” saidJawed Ludin, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He said the Taliban has changed over the past two decades, and a newgeneration of the Taliban has emerged, noting that the changes are morenegative.