The High Council for National Reconciliation led by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah on Monday has opposed President Ashraf Ghani’s reconciliation council list.

“Based on paragraph B of Ghani-Abdullah political agreement signed in May, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation is tasked to form the reconciliation council in consultations with president, political leaders, chairmen of the National Council, civil society members and elites. Hence, chairman of the council is only qualified to create it and there is no need for the president’s decree,” Sapidar said in a statement.

President Ghani in a decree on Saturday announced the new member list of the High Council for National Reconciliation which has been met with mixed reactions by major political parties and politicians.

Some on the list, such as former president Hamid Karzai, have rejected their membership, while others have welcomed it.

In reaction to creation of the council, Hamid Karzai said he won’t be present in any governmental formation. Former Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani also said he had not been consulted in this regard.

But Presidential Spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on Monday that consultations had been made with different spectrum of society regarding creation of the reconciliation council.

He added that disputes between Arg, the presidential palace, and Sapidar, had been resolved and the two sides make decisions from a single address hereinafter.

In the meantime, some political currents say that split between Arg and Sapidar will harm the peace process more than ever and that the government will be the loser on the negotiating table.

This comes as earlier, Abdullah Abdullah, said that the intra-Afghan talks would possibly begin next week.

Arezo News