Change of system to resolve crises: Massoud

KABUL is not a political laboratory for foreigners, a coalition of opposition parties on Sunday said the only way to resolve the current crises was to change the present political system.

The current political system could not resolve the crises and there had been no positive change in the lives of common Afghans over the past decade, the Afghanistan National Front (ANF) chairman, Ahmad Zia Massoud, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Speaking in Parliament, which entered its second year on Saturday, Karzai said several systems had been tried over the past 40 years, all yielding disastrous results.

“To be clear, we will not allow bad dreams to be implemented in our country,” he said, weeks after several Afghan politicians were invited to Germany for discussions on a switch to federalism.

But Massoud, whose brother once led the commanders fighting against the Taliban, said they had discussed the current situation in Afghanistan at a meeting with US lawmakers in Berlin, where they agreed that no system could succeed without devolution of powers.

Branding Karzai as an irresponsible leader, Massoud alleged the government was involved in massive corruption. There had been no one to hold the president accountable for his deeds committed over the past decade, he added.

The former vice-president claimed the current set-up was corrupt and hence unacceptable to the people of Afghanistan. In a federal regime, public representatives were able to ask the prime minister about his or her activities.

The coalition wanted a system in which officials have the authority to bring positive changes to the lives of people, he continued.

“The incumbent president doesn’t know what is happening in Badakhshan. Only governors know what people want,” he said, calling for governors and district chiefs to be appointed through elections.

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