KABUL (Pajhwok): Mohammad Asif Nang, an official in the previous government, says security has been ensured in Afghanistan amid a successful economic diplomacy, but supportive laws are required and necessary steps should be taken to stabilise the country.
The former minister said the caretaker government has met basic conditions for recognition, but creating a constitution was necessary for “internal legitimacy” through elections and a Supreme Council.
Nang suggested that the caretaker government should strive and pave the way for the return of the frozen Afghan asset. He called on the interim government to allow girls above sixth grade to continue their education, embrace the nation because angry people could even become armed opponents.
Nang served as the governor of Farah, Laghman provinces and acting Minister of Education in the previous governments.
After the collapse of the previous government in 2021, Nang also went abroad, but he returned to the country in June 2022.
In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Nang said he returned to the country through the Contact Commission with Afghan Personalities, and he was happy to be in his country among his people and family.
“The things which encouraged me to return to the country are my homeland, 40 million people, my family, my children and my home…we support the government of Afghanistan and 40 million human beings here, this nation should have a government, we support the truth, there should be sovereignty. But we are not part of this system,” he remarked.
He advised Afghan personalities living abroad: “It depends on your choices, but one surely stays where he feels belonging and ownership”.
He added: “Afghanistan is now not suitable, secure and safe for some people who always want the crown and the throne, they are working for that and don’t live under the Taliban.”
When asked why Afghanistan was not safe for some people, he said some people felt unsafe from the “Taliban” and others felt unsafe because they had been involved in war, corruption and killings.
Nang said during his service in the previous government he had never been involved in corrupt practices and always provided services to the people. He had been engaged in constructing schools and other good works.
In response to a query whether he meets IEA authorities or not, Nang replied: “No, I have not tried, we are just ordinary people. If the caretaker government needed me, they would have asked. They should keep in touch. Let’s use the capacity of a professional cadre. This is the only country where there are such people who say we are full of everything.”
Referring to the current situation of Afghanistan, Nang said: “In my view, the elements of security have acted very strongly, and the elements of security call it domination, but the elements of stability are very shaky and a good economy can strengthen stability.”
“The elements of stability are that 40 million people should not starve, my young people should be provided with a happy life, a life in which a person wakes up in the morning and feels happy and all the people have equal sense of ownership, and freedom. But women have right to education and right to work, these have been denied, you can’t find any Islamic reason for it, nor divine reason. You can find a reason why a woman should not work and not feed her children,” he continued.
He emphasised on providing the ground for education to girls and added in relation to the elements of stability that Afghanistan’s caretaker government has not been recognized and the required diplomatic, banking and economic relations are not in placed.
He said not strengthening the elements of instability could cause problems.
Nang stressed the strengthening of economy and said: “You have three categories people, poor category comprised of 70 people, middle category comprised of up to 20 percent people and rich category comprised of 3.5 percent people, if we look at the past three years statistics the middle class people have degraded to the lower level while the upper class people have lift the country and a small number are in the country, their economic growth and their capital’s circulated profit is very low, there are 600 factories functional but the industrial production is also down and the overall economy had degraded , economy should be strengthen because it is the deciding factor, if you have disappointed people you need to make them agreed the disappointed people would then convert to armed opponents or demonstrators, our tenure has ended, if you talk about our negative points it can take 10 interviews, if you the best opportunities, I was in conflict, my work was 70 percent affected by conflict now there is peace, things on which the IEA could work should be implemented.”
Referring to the fact that the IEA was still working on reconstruction projects and factories are opened, he said: “In my opinion, you see, 1.5 million occupations in the infrastructure sector have been suspended, the reason is legitimate or illegitimate, they say that they are not according to the map, they say that they are not according to the standards.”
He said this led to unemployment and the sale and purchase also reduced.
He said according to report up to three million people have left the country most of them skilled and qualified people.
He added: “And who are people with a lot of money, contractors, owners of big businesses, you will find someone whose account is in the banks of Afghanistan.”
He said the capital flight from Afghanistan has increased at a time when poverty eradication required cash.
He said Afghanistan’s businessmen, contractors, rich people, and those who say that their daughters do not have the same education conditions in the country, and their women, even if they are sick, cannot go to the parks for recreation, have taken this money out of the country
Nang said: “The Minister of Trade himself says that up to $150 billion of Afghans has been invested abroad, It is not government, NATO, or the United States Monney, this amount is out of your money cycle, this money is in Dubai, in Turkey, in India, they are in Central Asia, in Europe and in America, I don’t mention only Mirwais Azizi, there are up to 200 people who are important for the Dubai government and they tell them that you are good people who should not leave this land, the money of thousands of Afghans is in Iran, Iran tells them that you are the greatest blessing”
He said that this capital has gone out in the last 10 years, but it may have increased a little or a lot in the last three years, in order to bring back this capital favorable condition should be provided and in the last three years 100 billion must have returned to the country.
Nang added it is not a state issue, not a political discussion but it is an economic discussion.
When asked about his point of view in this regard, he said he was not in a position to give advice but urged that officials should pay attention and prevent the situation in which poverty and unemployment reach its lowest level where its control would not be possible.
Nang who served in the past government, said: “We talk straight because we have experienced a failed democratic system, I want to say that this up to $200 billion should be returned to Afghanistan, environment and ground for the return of this capital should be provided if they are one or more, if education is an issue it should be addressed, if there is tax issue it need to be addressed, if condition for investment is not provided it is your responsibility to make arrangement, the second thing is that you need to convene PPP, the IEA has a historic chance in this regard.”
He said giving detail about the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) of consumers: “The world progress relied on public private partnership, the governments alone cannot build countries nor economics, it is possible only through the unity of PPP and government. Afghanistan has 9.7 million hectare land, only 12.5 of it suitable for cultivation but it grows only 2.5 of the cultivable land. The people of this country had half of its food (bread) during the past two and half centuries, this country needs six million tonnes of wheat annually but harvests only two million tonnes from its land. This country has its human power, land and running water but all of these factors remain idle. The climate of this country is not like the Saudi’s which is not suitable for cultivation, Afghanistan has all of the factors for winning and making its own bread, what Afghanistan needs is just a move to get rid of the idleness. The government of the IEA has never been a government capable to collect all of the taxes from its people, which are the main factors responsible for this situation poverty, unemployment and stagnation.”
Referring to the interaction between the IEA, regional and Islamic countries, while blaming the IEA government to some extent, Nang blamed the world the most for the lack of interaction with the current caretaker government.
He said, the Taliban is the defacto government right now, it must do more about the governance to pave the way for the legitimacy of its government.
Responding to a question about to the legitimacy of the IEA government and support of the people, he said: “The IEA government is a legitimate government, but it must hold elections and prove to the world that it has the support of the people as well, elections and parliament council (Jirga), (which must have the support of a million people at least, I do not mean that the Jirga must has the support of 40 million people), elections and parliament are the tools for the legitimacy of the government, the Jirga must announce the legitimacy of the government which is a separate discussion, I do not say this, it is what the world say, to prove its legitimacy the government must go through this phase.”
If the IEA government holds elections, there would not be a greater legitimate power than this, Nang said.
Referring to the support of current regime in Afghanistan, Nang said: “The support of the government means that the nation must see itself in the government, the nation must be part of the economy of the country, however the Taliban government has some sort of support, supporters like us are ready to sacrifice ourselves for it to further strengthen the government, i think the Taliban should be supported because the world had turned its back to them.”
Referring to the demand of the world about education of females, Nang said it is what Almighty Allah wants it too, the government must open the doors of educational institutions above the grade six to answer to the world query, it must solve the females’ employment issue as well.
Addressing the government of the IEA, Nang said: “You must not leave the world to turn its back to you because of this small issue, if the Taliban’s (government) becomes under more pressure from the world, it would be a really dangerous situation, we witnessed too many revolutions, you (Taliban) must not be sacrificed this time as well, now the ball is in your court so you must not make such small issues to raise questions about the legitimacy of your government.”
The IEA must make its constitution and other laws too.
Nang said: “Trade needs laws, stipulations, drafts, values and standards, you (IEA) must have them prepared and announced to all what are the laws about the trade, finance, civil. It must be also clarified if all of the laws of the previous government are annulled, half were annulled or what laws are practiced.”
The education of girls about grade six was announced suspended temporarily, three years passed but the issue must be addressed at least, he said.
He asked: “What are the standards that you cannot meet? What are your standards about the curriculum, life and uniform! And what is the demand of your sharia law about it, you have all of the facilities in your hand and you can reconcile the world, why you do not move forward with them?”
The government of the IEA has met all the four standards for its recognition which are the sovereignty over the land, the nation, sovereignty and its government, Nang said.
He said: “If we pay attention to the shortcomings of the IEA about which the world object and it calls it symbolic, they are not basic issues like meeting the rights of the people, the world must not stick to the issue is women rights, the government that meets the four aforementioned standards is entitled to recognition and that is considered as a legitimate government. The issue of inclusivity, the government of the IEA is inclusive, the balance of the tribes is usually decided by the number of ballots in the boxes.”
He added a government must have a national flag, national anthem and national emblems among the sub-tools.
He suggested: “The caretaker government should explain it in a letter to the international community about how they select a prime minister, their flag, their anthem and national symbols.”
About economic programs of the interim government, Nang said: “two things of IEA that I see positive are their determination and work in practice. What makes you better is internal legitimacy and recognition by the world and existence of laws.”
“IEA is currently saying to the world they run economy and suggest them to partner with them, they say this to China and Saudi Arabia. Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry has started a good initiative now in economic diplomacy with Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Pakistan, However, there are no supporting laws, no principles and foundations,” he added.
Nang also hailed the IEA progress in treasury or budged and revenue sectors.
“IEA recently announced collecting more than two million afghanis in revenue which is a positive step. The Afghanistan’s situation is not as worse as the world claims that 28 percent people are facing with food insecurity, however there is not as much optimism as the Taliban’s leaders say, it’s a balanced situation between these two,” Nang remarked.
According to him, business and money circulation have decreased and people’s economy has weakened.
He underlined some measures for the improvement of the situation, saying: “I am jobless, give me land for empowerment, provide me with a resource to work on with these measures the system will improve and the rate of poverty will also reduce.”
The former official of the Ministry of Education (MoE) also acknowledged progress made in Islamic education sector.
Nang emphasized that everyone reserved the right to have access to education.
He also insisted on reforms in education curriculum and added professional individuals should be hired to create the curriculum in accordance with the Islamic faith and international standards.
The number of books should be reduced, education up to the 4th grade should be dedicated to reading, then there would be general education up to the 9th grade, and the rest of the education up to the twelfth and fourteenth grade would be specialized, he suggested.
About the fact that the curriculum was created by the previous government and he was also a high-ranking official at MoE, Nang said: “We had shared the reforms issue with the then government and was accepted, but it was 10-year program.”
Regarding the problems in the previous government, including reasons for its collapse, he said a new government was formed after Bun’s meeting, however the world had been giving priority to the war.
He added: “This was a planned part of these programs, it was not a random part… But if you look at the budget, 184 billion dollars were given to the nation of Afghanistan in the civil sector in the last 20 years, but they defamed Afghanistan”.
In response to a query whether there was no corruption in the previous government, he said there was corruption, but eighty percent of the money was spent by foreigners and the rest by the government.
“A number of development projects, including construction of hospitals, administrations, roads and buildings were executed in Kabul city, Mazar-i-sharif, Kandahar, Khost and Herat during the past two decades. I am responsible for the 35 billion dollars spent in the last twenty years,” Nang concluded.
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