Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah in a statement said he will not attend the Consultative Loya Jirga on Peace – scheduled for April 29, where almost 2,500 delegates will attend to decide on the future of the peace talks in Afghanistan.
Head of the High Peace Council’s Secretariat, Mohammad Umer Daudzai is leading the committee on organizing the Peace Jirga. Women will make almost 30 percent of the Jirga delegates, officials said.
In the statement posted on the Chief Executive Office’s Facebook page on Sunday afternoon, Abdullah said that he has not been consulted on the Jirga and that he does not see it “helpful to overcome the current challenges in the country”.
“We in the Stability and Partnership team have not been involved in any consultation (on the Jirga) neither at political parties and individual levels nor at the government level,” says the statement issued on behalf of the Stability and Partnership election ticket led by Abdullah.
“The Stability and Partnership team led by Abdullah Abdullah announces that members of the team will not attend the meeting named ‘Consultative Jirga on Peace’ and does not see it helpful for overcoming the current problems in Afghanistan,” the statement adds.
This comes as government and some prominent politicians failed to find common grounds to form a negotiating delegation for talks with Taliban.
The government last week established a council to lead the reconciliation process with Taliban which was tasked to create the negotiating team, but due to disputes over some issues, the council failed to form the team. President Ghani was reportedly trying to include some arch rivals of Taliban in the team, but members of the council opposed the idea and the council meeting failed to form the team. It’s said that people close to the President are trying to prevent the already announced round of intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha, Qatar and the politicians visited Taliban representatives in Moscow in February may retaliate it with boycotting the consultative Loya Jirga.
