KABUL): Afghans should not worry about a financial crisis after 2014 and should actively participate in next year’s presidential elections, former interior minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said on Sunday.
Addressing ceremony marking Afghanistan 94th Independence Day in Kabul, Jalali said Afghans had won freedom from the Britons as a result of sacrifices and national unity.
“We have won wars, but failed in political affairs. Some of our leaders pitted tribes against one another for staying in power,” he said, explaining the civil war was for personal gains, not national interests.
“Afghans should not be concerned about 2014, a date that can’t decide the fate of a nation,” he remarked, believing there would be no power vacuum after withdrawal of foreign troops.
Afghanistan had its security forces that could control the situation, Jalali argued. “We should have a legitimate government that could bring peace and stability to the country…”
People could decide their fate on their own by widely participating in the next presidential election, the former minister continued.
Although he said nothing about his candidacy, Jalali has previously suggested his supporters want him to contest the presidential ballot.
Addressing the nation, Jalali observed: “We are faced with a big challenge of how to ensure a legitimate set-up in the wake of the 2014 polls. There should be inclusive elections…”
He cautioned political leaders against efforts at retaining power, asking them to focus on steering the nation out of problems.
Hindia, the daughter of King Amanullah Khan, the hero of independence, also addressed the gathering. Her father had started his struggle for independence with the support of the people, she said.
Amanullah would always encourage people to acquire education and knew that an uneducated nation could not safeguard its sovereignty, she added.
There were remarkable improvements during his rule when the first-ever girls school and women’s hospital were set up and the national constitution drafted, she recalled.
Hindia insisted on national unity, saying her father’s slogan was: “We are one nation, and Afghans stood united.” She said her father would often give the nation a message of peace.
Senator Anarkali Hunaryar said Afghans should honestly work for bringing peace and unity to the country. “Our achievements in different sectors have been undone by war,” she commented.
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