Sources in the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) say that consultations on amending the US plan are ongoing. About 20 members of the Leadership Committee of the HCNR shared their views and proposals with the council on the US plan prior to the Moscow summit. The Islamic Jurisprudence Council, the Constitution, the National Assembly, women’s rights and the security forces have been some of the biggest issues discussed among the members of this committee. In another memo, a copy of which reached Hasht e Subh, the discussion of centralized and decentralized systems was called “the biggest debate” and people were asked to address the advantages and disadvantages of these two models from a technical point of view. This memo states that on the proposal to create the Prime Minister position, the members siding with the Presidential Palace stress the continuation of a centralized system, while a large number of political stakeholders have called for a decentralized system. However, in discussing how to appoint governors and their level of authority, it has been said that there is greater consensus among the Presidential Palace and other political stakeholders on its decentralization. In the coming days, the views of the other committee members are to be collected and unified. Following the unification of views by a 15-member committee, the fifth meeting of the Leadership Committee of the council will be convened to make a final decision, and the plan will be presented as an amended plan at the Istanbul meeting.
Three weeks after the United States shared the transitional peace plan with the government and political stakeholders, negotiations have now begun to accelerate. Prior to the Moscow summit, about 20 members of the HCNR Leadership Committee shared their views on the plan with the council. Abdur Rab Rasul Sayaf, Abdul Rasheed Dostum, Sayed Mansoor Naderi, Mohammad Yonus Qanuni, Sayed Hamid Gilani, Mohammad Ismail Khan, Mohammad Sarwar Danesh, Ata Ul-Rahman Salim, Juma Khan Hamdard, Farida Momand, Shahgul Rizayi, Mari Akrami, Nasrin Oriakhil, Zuhra Motahar Ahmadzai, Noor Ul-Haq Olumi, Safia Sidiqi, Najiba Ayubi, and Farkhunda Zahra Naderi are among those who submitted their views on the US plan to the committee before the Moscow summit. However, a number of Leadership Committee members, have not yet shared their views due to attending the Moscow summit and need to discuss their position within their parties. Thus, the republic’s views on the US plan are not yet unified.
The High Council for National Reconciliation summarizes views on the US plan in four areas. Although the members of this committee have made suggestions on various occasions, most of the views presented revolve around discussions of how the political system should be, whether or not the Islamic Jurisprudence Council should be formed, the future of the Constitution, the fate of women’s rights and the necessity of the National Assembly. Meanwhile, the issue of centralized and decentralized systems also seems serious. The memo, a copy of which was leaked to Hasht e Subh, said that the decentralization of the system was “the biggest issue” in recent consultations. The memo states that during the consultations of the HCNR on the “Transitional Peace Government plan by the US”, the commonalities and differences between the political factions across the country were clarified. In part, this memo emphasizes the position of the HCNR as it is considered the platform reflecting the majority of the country’s political stakeholders.
Based on the “documents obtained” and “talking to the parties involved in the consultation process”, the biggest issue is the decentralization of the system because this is explicitly raised in two parts of the US plan. The creation of the Prime Minister position, which is considered a key step towards a parliamentary system, and second the issue of how governors are appointed and their levels of authority. The memo states that in the Prime Minister discussion, the disagreement between the “Presidential Palace wing” and “others” is evident because the “representatives on the side of the Presidential Palace” insist on “maintaining the current centralized powers”, while” a large number of other political actors explicitly call for the decentralization of these powers.”
On the second issue of provincial authorities, there seems to be “greater consensus”, specifically on how to appoint provincial governors and their level of authority, and that even “a number of prominent figures around the president want to decentralize the method of appointing governors and their authorities.” Thus, in this memo, the details of which are not very clear, two broad themes are referenced, “peace, an opportunity to reform and strengthen democracy in the system” and ” meaningful ethnic participation through decentralization, the greatest desire of the people and political actors, ” Further into the memo, the audience of the memo is asked to discuss issues from a “professional point of view” and address the advantages and disadvantages of the “two models” (centralized and decentralized systems). A source in the HCNR told Hasht e Subh that consultations on the topics of the US proposal for a Transitional Peace Government would continue and that a meeting of the council’s Leadership Committee would be convened once the process was finalized.
In this meeting, all the points will be discussed and then the views will be voted on. It is worth mentioning that this plan will be presented to the United States and the United Nations as an amended plan at the Istanbul meeting. The United States has previously discussed the plan with the Taliban to decide. The Presidential Palace, however, opposes the US plan on the transitional government.
