KABUL (Pajhwok): Some political commentators call US Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest comments a kind of pressure on presidential candidates to form a unity government, but others support him for his efforts to end the political deadlock.
Kerry in an op-ed published online Wednesday appealed to both candidates to translate the broad power-sharing agreement they reached with him early this month into a working relationship they can carry into a new government, “whoever wins.”
“The time for politics is over. The time for cooperation is at hand,” he wrote. “There is no time to waste.”
Some analysts believe if the next government is formed under foreign pressure, it will have little effectiveness and a symbolic significance.
Political expert Javed Kohistani said Kerry should have asked the two candidates to reveal the contents of the political deal he brokered between them instead of doing it himself.
He believed Kerry’s article was a kind of pressure he exerted on the two candidates to form a unity government.
Kohistani rejected the claim that the creation of the chief executive position did not violate the country’s constitution and called the proposed national unity government a big mistake because it would have only a symbolic significance.
He said in the unity government, both the sides would not cooperate with each other in running the government’s affairs and differences would emerge on power-sharing and as a result, powerful individuals and law violators would rule untouched.
The expert criticised the presence and intervention of foreigners in very decision, saying their role should be only to advise.
Kohistani said such articles and comments resulted from the weakness of the electoral teams and if the national unity government was formed under foreign pressure, it would eventually plunge into anarchy.
But another political expert Bashir Bizhon held a different view. He said Kerry’s article could play a positive role in doing away with the political impasse and should be appreciated.
He told Pajhwok Afghan News Afghanistan had not yet reached the stage, where it alone could take all the affairs forward.
However, he said the US wanted an end to the political crisis in Afghanistan because it could threaten its strategic goals in the country and the region.
He believed if the US failed to prevent the political crisis in Afghanistan from deepening, “it could face the super power with defeat and even breakup.”
Bizhon said it would be better for the US and the international community to remain cooperative until the vote audit was completed and the power peacefully transferred.
He warned if the prevailing situation was left unchanged, the incumbent government and the “real player” would brush aside the two candidates and prolong the rule.
Kabul University teacher Ahmad Zia Rifat said that as a strategic partner and keeping in view its own interests, the US wanted the fate of the electoral process in Afghanistan to be decided soon.
In order to reach that goal, he said, it was natural the US would make all-out efforts from writing articles to media pressure and diplomatic trips to implement the agreement Kerry brokered between the two candidates.
He said the two candidates had only agreed to the formula of a national unity government in the presence of Kerry but failed to reach a real agreement.
Rifat said Kerry’s article had nothing negative about the elections in Afghanistan. He said Afghanistan needed assistance from its allies because its institutions were not strong enough.
“For its bitter realties, Afghanistan needs positive regional and international interferences. The US, a real supporter of Afghanistan in areas of politics, military and economy, will definitely get worried if the political process here goes wrong.”
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