President Mohammed Ashraf Ghani while addressing the Consultative Jirga said that the Jirga is held to determine the limitation and framework of peace and how to achieve it. He said that he wants Intra-Afghan peace process and stressed that “we will not allow a non-Afghan peace process.”
President Ghani while addressing the much awaited Loya Jirga on peace expressed that the members of this Jirga are reviewing the boundaries of talks with Taliban and emphasized that “the smallest achievement of the Loya Jirga will be that three thousand Afghans who came from every corner of the nation will get to know each other which is very important to consolidate the foundations of the government and the nation.”
Mr Ghani said that at Peace Consultative Jirga, representatives of people of different walks of life “sikhs and hindus, martyrs, immigrants, academic institutions, artists, athletes, civil institutions, women activists, and other institutions” have participated in Jirga.
While saying that the Loya Jirga is facilitating the voice of the Afghan people, president Ghani added that the Loya Jirga should have been held now. He said that any decision which is made without consulting doesn’t bear fruit.
He also said “Is it 15 people who determine Afghanistan’s future or 3,200 people? If someone doesn’t respect people but goes to other places then they should be questioned by people” with respect to presidential candidates’ boycotting of Loya Jirga in an interview with state-run TV.
President Ghani said that peace isn’t from Taliban and the Afghan government, he stressed that people of Afghanistan have ownership of peace.
He said peace doesn’t have winner and added that only Afghan people are the heroes of this process. At the same time, Mr. Ghani said, “We believe in friendship. If anyone treats us with hostility, we will not surrender.”
Meanwhile, Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, who is heading the Peace Jirga said that he appreciates President Ghani and the Peace Jirga delegates’ trust in him for the important responsibility to head the grand gathering.
Addressing Jirga delegates, the former Jihadi leader Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf clarified that women can and must play a prominent role in Afghanistan’s future.
“The Taliban and we follow the same religion, why are we fighting then?”, he said,
He expressed that the question to be raised at Loya Jirga should be “What should be the composition of government’s negotiating team? What should be participants’ eligibility?”
Our Constitution says no law in the country could be against Islamic rules, said Loya Jirga chairman Sayyaf.
“We are serious about peace and Taliban should respond positively” Sayyaf said.
