Armed Taliban militants should join the peace process and participate in the upcoming elections

Armed Taliban militants should join the peace process and participate in the upcoming elections
President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday said peace was more urgent and should be achieved before the upcoming Wolesi Jirga and district council elections.
AVA- President Ghani expressed these views while attending the 21st meeting of Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) attended by many foreign officials today.
In the beginning, acting finance minister, Dr. Hamyon Qayumi and UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto addressed the meeting.
The meeting ended with President Ashraf Ghain’s speech which was mostly focused on peace efforts.
He said the Afghans’ hope for peace underwent a change as compared to the past when the Afghans looked for others to bring them peace.’
“But now we have our own plan and policy for peace.”
He said for reaching peace there would be first agreement and the peace process would continue because it was important for keeping the peace agreement intact.
“I believe the Afghan nation wants change, you will see this belief proving in the elections and the peace process, what we need is tolerance and to promote this culture,” he said.
He said change was needed in culture for peace and there was the need for flexibility and some rules to achieve peace.
“We all felt the joy of peace during the ceasefire, we also saw the war price before and after the ceasefire, if there were no political or religious reasons against ceasefire, then why we should continue the bloodshed?” the president asked.
He said the upcoming elections were a great opportunity for all Afghans including the Taliban to take part.
In other countries, governments used to change rules and laws so the oppositions were able to participate in elections.
However, Ghani said there was no such problem in Afghanistan’s laws and peace should be achieved before the elections started.
“I wish our political class acts according to the public understanding, because peace needs this. If we do not agree on game’s rules and change the rules everyday then how we would be able to achieve peace,” he concluded.