KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2019) The presidential vote in Afghanistan will face major challenges amid insecurity and instability, with US-Taliban peace talks stalled, members of one of the Afghan political parties, Jamiat-e Islami, said Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the members of Jamiat-e Islami held a meeting, which was hosted by former Afghan Minister of Water and Energy Ismail Khan in the province of Herat.
"The first concern is transparency, no one guarantees that the next election will be free of fraud. Second, insecurity and war, the Taliban rule over 60 percent of the soil, and in this situation election without fraud is impossible. Third, the campaigns for election focus on ethnic groups, thus jeopardizing the election results and dividing the Afghans," Yunus Qanuni, former Afghan vice president, said at the meeting.
Qanuni also stressed that the recent disagreement between Washington and the Taliban movement posed a threat to security in the country and could provoke a new crisis. The politician called on the United States to restart the talks and reach an agreement with the movement.
Atta Muhammad Noor, the party's operational chief, urged his supporters to ignore the vote citing the worsening security situation and a weak monitoring system. He also emphasized the need for an interim government.
"There is no need for people to risk themselves and participate in the elections. If [US-Taliban] peace talks resume, interim government will be established," Noor said.
The politician criticized US President Donald Trump for tweets about the Taliban's responsibility for sabotaging talks by carrying out attacks in Kabul, and stressed that the parties should resume the negotiations.
Khan, meanwhile, echoed the thoughts of his fellow party members, insisting that the peace deal is needed to ensure withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.
"Afghanistan is occupied by foreigners, the government has no ability to make decisions, all decisions are under control of foreigners," Khan said.
The former minister added that a group of politicians would work on facilitating US-Taliban peace talks.
The presidential election in Afghanistan is scheduled for September 28. Due to low confidence in the electoral process, some candidates have not launched campaigns at all. Low turnout is also feared amid security concerns.
In recent days, the Taliban has conducted a number of deadly terrorist attacks in Afghanistan raising concerns even more amid promises to disrupt the vote.
The escalation damaged the Taliban-US peace talks, which would envisage the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country in exchange for the movement's commitment to cut ties with terrorist organizations and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorists.
The Afghan authorities have launched special operations to eliminate security threats in the areas, where polling stations will be located.
