Ghani Abdullah Agreement

TOLOnews has obtained a copy of the proposed political agreement between President Ashraf Ghani and his political opponent Abdullah Abdullah, which outlines the structure of a future government in which each side will have a 50 percent share. The deal designates Abdullah to conduct future peace talks with the Taliban, who have already signed a pioneering agreement with the United States to pave the way for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. Despite 18 years and billions of dollars in international aid, Afghanistan remains desperately poor. The poverty line rose from 35% of the population in 2012 to more than 55% last year. But after a similar stalemate in March, an angry Pompeo struck his failure and announced a $1 billion cut in aid to Afghanistan. All of them, with the exception of one of the Afghan presidential elections since the 2001 US invasion, ended controversially and the last two brought the country to the brink of more bloodshed, even when the war with the Taliban was raging. In 2014, Secretary of State John Kerry brokered a power-sharing deal that kept Mr. Ghani as president and Mr. Abdullah as head of government with half the power. Shortly after the agreement was signed, Mr. Abdullah changed his Twitter bio and dropped his title to “The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.” In order to meet the expectations of the Afghan people, to support the defence and security forces, to respect the continuous and useful efforts of national personalities and the international community to resolve the political crisis resulting from the elections in the country, to find a solution to put an end to political differences and to respect the differences of the country`s political leaders in this regard, Recognizing that the continuation of the current political situation is not in the interest of the country and the Afghan people and to break the deadlock, the following issues were agreed: Abdullah had previously served as Afghanistan`s “Chief Executive” under a previous power-sharing agreement, but lost the post after a presidential election won by President Ghani in September, was defeated. NATO, which has a training mission in Afghanistan, welcomed the agreement and called on Afghan leaders and the Taliban to work for peace. The five-page agreement proposed – initially in Dari – describes the role of the government entrusted to Abdullah Abdullah and specifies its authorities and privileges as well as the areas in which his team will participate.

On the basis of the agreement, the High Council of Government will be established to ensure political consensus in the country. Political leaders and national personalities will be members. The breakthrough in which Abdullah is leading peace talks with the Taliban is a blow to Afghanistan`s fight against the rapid spread of the deadly coronavirus and the rise in violence that left dozens dead in brutal attacks last week. Fraidoon Khawzoon, Abdullah`s spokesman, told AFP that the deal would ensure Abdullah`s group would get 50 percent of cabinet posts and other provincial governors. . . .