By our Correspondent

Faryab: As part of its spring political offensive, the Afghanistan National Front (ANF) is holding a series of rallies in the Northern Afghanistan. Yesterday, Maimana, the provincial capital of Faryab, the most populous province of the North witnessed one of the largest rallies of its history. The ANF successfully held an impressive rally in Shiberghan, Jowzjan last week.

Now it has taken Faryab by storm. Addressing the crowd of tens of thousands Ahmad Zia Massoud, chairman of the ANF said, "The upcoming presidential election of 2014 will be a milestone on the road to peace and stability in our country. Whoever tries illegally to influence the outcome of this election illegally or who tries to steal the public mandate will be guilty of treason against our nation. We shall not allow anyone to manipulate the democratic process."

Ahmad Zia Massoud said that the path towards peace and prosperity also requires radical reform in the political system to accommodate the rich diversity of our nation.
Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, the popular Hazara leader said, "It is up to Karzai to avoid the fate of Qaddafi by adopting the democratic path. In this case he may still be remembered with a good name in our history. But if he will adopts the undemocratic path to extend the lifespan of his ruling clique he will face fierce resistance from all Afghans."

Mohaqiq said that government has failed to deliver on political and development fronts. The Karzai administration has a host of questions to ask about it broken promises on Human Rights, gender equality and dealing with corruption.

"The government rather than concerning itself with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country cares about the giving amnesty to terrorists" he said.

Mohaqiq said that the demands of the National Front regarding the decentralization of power and adoption of a parliamentary form of democracy constitute the legitimate demands of the people of Afghanistan.

Abdur Rashid Dostum the leader of the Northern based Junbish Party said, "we shall abide by democratic norms. But efforts to derail our democracy continue. We shall resist these conspiracies and fight for our people's rights." "The Taliban don't believe in peace and they will not lay down their weapons nor accept the values represented in our constitution. Karzai's peace process is flawed. Gen. Dostum in still alive to safeguard the constitution and prevent the Taliban from returning to power by undemocratic means" he said.

Haji Aman Khairi, another top leader of the ANF said, "the distance between people and government is increasing day by day. This is because of the rank incompetence of the government. The current government will never end corruption because it is based on corruption."

At the end of the rally the elders of Faryab province tied red scarves around the leaders' waists and assured them of full support.