President Ashraf Ghani and UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto on Monday spoke about the peace process, and transparency in the upcoming presidential election.
Tajamichi Yamamato and President Ghani addressed the twenty-second meeting of the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board in Kabul today.
Ghani said that seven billion Afghanis had been allocated from the government budget for the election process.
“It is great that for the first time we are paying a large proportion of the election fund from our own resources, I congratulate all the Afghans on this great step,” he said. He said Afghan security forces would ensure security for the presidential election.
“Afghan security and defense forces would be neutral in the election process and we will issue regulations and a clear procedure in the next one day so that all become assured that Afghan security and defense forces are national asset, not a personal property or affiliated with some political parties,” he said.
Ghani said government’s civil workers would be impartial in election and those who violated the law would be taken to task.
“Afghanistan penal code criminalizes interference in election; I ask judiciary organs to be careful about criminal election cases,” he said.
The president said election campaigns by candidates would start next week. The presidential election would not be free of problems but Afghans would not bow to any problem and would act in recourse to deal with them, he said.
Ghani stressed national unity and said, “In the past, our small and big cities were not connected but today they are connected.”
Peace in Afghanistan would be ensured because it was a priority of the government and there were also advancements in this regard, he said.
He said Afghanistan’s economy was getting better and would reach self-sustainability with support of international allies.
He thanked the international community for its support and said the international community partnership with Afghanistan was highly valued.
Tadamichi Yamamoto told the meeting that they would discuss performed tasks, present challenges in Afghanistan and finding solutions to them in the meeting.
He said Afghanistan was closer to peace now than any time before but there was still need for further efforts to make peace a reality.
He said there were some challenges in last year’s Wolesi Jirga elections and the government should learn a lesson from them in the presidential election.
“Afghan presidential election should be credible and transparent,” he said.
Mohammad Hamayon Qayumi, acting finance minister, who was also present in the meeting, appreciated international community’s support to Afghanistan and said today’s meeting would discuss coordination, challenges and solutions as well as anti-corruption efforts.
He said the government had prepared programs for its self-sufficiency and peace in the country. Qayumi said that implementing these programs needed international support.
