Afghan president ready to discuss fresh elections amid stalled peace talks with Taliban

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says his government is ready to discuss the possibility of holding fresh elections, after US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reportedly proposed the idea of founding an interim government to push forward stalled peace negotiations with the Taliban.

Khalilzad, who held talks with the president during the past week in Kabul, floated the idea of a grand conference of Afghan and Taliban leaders to create an interim government, according to US and Afghan officials.

Ghani, however, said on Saturday that “those who go to this or that gate to gain power is that political power in Afghanistan has a gate, and the key is the vote of the Afghan people.”

He told lawmakers at the opening of parliament session that his government “stand[s] ready to discuss holding free, fair and inclusive elections under the auspices of international community.”

“Transfer of power through elections is a non-negotiable principle for us,” Ghani said.

“We can also talk about the date of the elections and reach a conclusion.”

“Any institution can write a fantasy on a piece of paper and suggest a solution for Afghanistan. These papers have been written in the past and will be written in the future. Our guarantee is our constitution,” the president added.

A peace deal between the US and the Taliban paved the way for intra-Afghan negotiations, last year. But negotiations have had no progress since they were resumed earlier this year in Doha.

The Taliban agreed last year to negotiate a permanent ceasefire and a power-sharing formula with Kabul.

On Saturday, Taliban spokesman Naeem Wardak said the group held a meeting with Khalilzad and General Scott Miller, the head of US forces and the non-combat Resolute Support mission.

“Both sides expressed their commitment to the Doha agreement and discussed its full implementation.”

“Likewise, the current situation of Afghanistan and the rapidity and effectiveness of the intra-Afghan negotiations were discussed,” Wardak said.

The Taliban reached its deal with the administration of former President Donald Trump in February last year on halting of their attacks on international forces in exchange for the withdrawal of the remaining 12,000 US troops from Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden’s administration, however, has begun a review of its strategy for Afghanistan, including last year’s agreement with the Taliban.

The new efforts are expected to delay a US troop withdrawal by May that was part of the deal.

The US overthrew a Taliban regime shortly after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. But occupation forces have remained bogged down there ever since and violence continues to take a heavy toll in the country.

Last year’s deal was intended to result in the reduction of bloodshed, but in recent months, deadly attacks and high-profile assassinations have seen a rise in Afghanistan.

Only in December last year, some 60 people were killed and many others were wounded in targeted attacks across the county, official figures show.

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