Most members of the government’s Peace Advisory Board (PAB) did not participate in the first meeting of the board with the government leadership on Monday, as government leaders stressed that the only authorized side to negotiate any peace deal with the Taliban is government.
After the US stepped up efforts for political settlement of the Afghan war and called on the warring sides to form their teams for peace talks, President Ashraf Ghani established a consultative board consisted of representatives from political parties and some influential politicians to advise the government and its negotiating team over peace-related issues.
Government on Monday held its first meeting with PAB, but most of its influential members refused to take part in the gathering.
At the time of announcement, some people who were appointed as members of the board by President Ghani expressed their opposition to the formation and the consultative role given to the board.
A joint committee of some political parties says they are working on a separate delegation to hold peace talks with the Taliban.
Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan, Hezb-e- Islami and Wahdat-e-Islami political parties say the only way for intra-Afghan dialogue is to form a negotiating team of political parties to convince the Taliban to talk peace.
Faizullah Safi, a member of Hezb-e-Islami, told Kabul News TV that at least 27 political movements, led by seven major mainstream political parties, came together to form a team for peace discussions with the Taliban.
But the government categorically refutes the idea and sees no alternative to government in peace talks.
The Chief Executive of the government, Abdullah Abdullah, said the Afghan government is the only institution which has the authority to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban.
He made the remarks during the first meeting of the advisory board for peace which was held in ARG yesterday.
Abdullah further added that any progress in regard to the peace process will be publicized; no information will be held back from Afghan people.
He asserted that the government is the only institution authorized to undertake the negotiations, according to a presidential statement.
