Reports have surfaced that the Afghanistan’s High Peace Council (HPC) tasked to mediate peace talks with Taliban will be absolved and that a small team from ARG (the Presidential Palace) will take charge of the peace process. Citing their sources, the media have learned that President Ghani has also recently held consultations with influential political leaders about the issue. The move comes after US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad urged Afghan government and the Taliban to form their respective “inclusive and authorized” negotiation teams. ARG, too, confirms that it has begun a series of consultations to establish an advisory board for peace process and a negotiating team for talks with the Taliban.
The High Peace Council is viewed as the most ineffective and incompetent structure of the Afghan government. Since its creation, it has not had any tangible achievement that can justify the continuation of its work. In addition to failure in achieving its mission, there are allegations of corruption in the body. The council not only has not shown any initiative for peace, there is also serious criticism of its performance at international conferences on Afghan peace, organized by other actors. The recent Moscow conference on Afghan peace is just the latest example of its failure to well represent Afghan government.
HPC had virtually no role in peace talks with Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Following the success of negotiations that culminated in a peace deal, Hekmatyar acknowledged that the body did not play any tangible role in the process. Given the ineffectiveness, the continuation of the work HPC only benefits those receiving salaries and other benefits from it.
Now that hopes have grown high for the success of direct peace talks with the Taliban, there is serious need to find an alternative to the useless entity, one that is effective and authorized. One of the reasons for failure of the High Peace Council was its lack of authority. After the Moscow conference, even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the HPC delegation at the meeting was not representing Afghan government. If the new advisory board or negotiation team is not entrusted with full authority, it can face the same fate as the High Peace Council. By learning a lesson from the work of the HPC, the government leadership should avoid making the same mistakes.