Amrullah Saleh, the former First Vice President of Afghanistan, revealed the Taliban's plan for Afghanistan's political future.
Source: Sputnik Tajikistan.
He posted on his official Facebook page a text titled "The Taliban's Political Plan*" which he claims and the Taliban believes, guarantees the international and domestic legitimacy of their government.
An official from Amrullah Saleh's political office told Sputnik Tajikistan that the information came from credible sources in the Taliban government, which predicts a dark future and a dictatorial regime without political, religious and human freedoms for all Afghans, and is aimed at strengthening the power of this group.
“Firstly, the Taliban want to keep the activities of Mullah Hibatullah Akhund, Emir al-Mu'minin or the leader of the Islamic Emirate of the Taliban in Kandahar, which means that Kandahar will remain the political capital of Afghanistan, as it is today. This is also to protect themself from political cataclysms and popular uprisings,” the source said.
Second, says Amrullah Saleh, the Taliban want to hold elections for the House of Representatives (Wolesi Jirga) and provincial councils overseen by an election commission made up of mawlawis, members of the group.
“The chairman of this committee is appointed by Mullah Hibatullah Akhund. The committee also determines who can be a candidate and who is not. Former members of the Wolesi Jirga, provincial councils and those who served in the republic, as well as women, cannot be candidates,” said a member of the political office of Amrullah Saleh.
According to Amrullah Saleh, the executive affairs of the government will be conducted by the prime minister, whom Mullah Hibatullah represents to the Wolesi Jirga, but the parliament only listens to the prime minister's plan and has no right to approve or reject it.
"The parliament will have only one right - to ask Mullah Hibatullah in writing to nominate another candidate. This means that the parliament does not have the right to reject the proposed decision that was made in Kandahar. Kandahar also nominates key members of the government, and women cannot be members of the cabinet," — said the interlocutor of Sputnik Tajikistan.
Amrullah Saleh says that the prime minister heads the cabinet and regularly reports to Kandahar, which in this case turns Kabul into the administrative capital of the Taliban.
“The heads of the power structures - the ministers of defense and internal affairs and the head of national security - will be appointed by Mullah Hibatullah himself and will not be subordinate to the prime minister. The chief judge will also be appointed by him, and there will be no representative of the Shiites in the Supreme Court,” Amrullah Saleh said.
The former First Vice President of Afghanistan says that Amir al-Mu'minin will be a leader with unlimited powers, who will be appointed by the Supreme Ulema Council to protect the principle of the Islamic Emirate in the event of his death or assassination.
“All members of this council must be members of the Taliban. A Shia representative cannot be a member. The council office will be located in the city of Kandahar and will have representatives in all provinces, which will be the highest religious and political authority and control the activities of governors and state institutions. In the same way, provincial administrations are becoming two-tier political and administrative, that is, government departments will only work and not conduct politics,” he said.
Amrullah Saleh says that under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, parties, associations, local councils or non-governmental organizations that work with the people will not be allowed to operate, and even free media will be closed or very limited.
“This future that the Taliban has in store for Afghanistan will not give them either domestic or international legitimacy, on the contrary, it will strengthen their opposition. They came up with such a plan in the first round of their rule, which, obviously, was not accepted by either the Afghan people or the international community, ” says Sputnik Tajikistan’s source.
Amrullah Saleh was briefly the head of the National Security Directorate at the beginning of the republic (2001-2021) and then first deputy to Ashraf Ghani, the President of Afghanistan. He left Afghanistan after the fall of the republic on August 15, 2021 and took refuge abroad.
The interlocutor of Sputnik Tajikistan did not want to mention the country of his presence.
* The organization is under UN sanctions or banned due to terrorist activities.
