KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Monday said the nomination of Qutbuddin Hilal for the presidency proved that Afghans from any party could participate in next year’s elections.
Hilal is an influential figure of the ’Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA), led by Gulbadin Hekmatyar. HIA is also the second largest Afghan armed group after the Taliban.
“Yesterday you saw different leading figures registering for the presidential vote. Hilal, a member of HIA, recently came to Afghanistan and nominated himself for the election,” he said.
The move meant the Taliban could also cooperate with the people in the reconstruction of the country,” the president told a press conference in Kabul.
He asked the Taliban not to keep the country reliant on foreign assistance, but rebuild it through positive participation in the 2014 elections, promoting education and the political process.
“I once again ask foreigners present in Afghanistan or those who interest in the country not to interfere in the elections and avoid repeating the bitter experience of previous presidential and parliamentary polls.
Their interference proved useless and the Afghan government and system emerged stronger. The Wolesi Jirga also came into being,” he said, adding his administration was doing its bit to prevent foreign meddling in the 2014 vote.
“I was watching an Aljazeera TV programme last night, when two young Afghans from Kabul and Herat and a European citizen were discussing the next election in Afghanistan,” he said.
The Afghans sounded confident about their country moving toward development and stability, but the Western individual tended to bust their morale, the president continued.
“Finally the young man from Herat told him our beloved Afghanistan is going forward, not backward,” Karzai said, asking all people to actively participate in the elections and thereby block foreign interference.
The government would ensure that the process remained transparent and would not let anyone use state resources for or against any candidate, the president promised. (Pajhwok)