Afghan Online Press News, 1 July 2019
This article quotes from AAN’s latest analysis of the different layers of the Afghanistan peace talks:
The Afghanistan Analysts Network’s Thomas Ruttig, in an excellent analytical piece, explains that the Taliban want to see a shura-ye hal o aqd – an Islamic form of representation through elite selection as opposed to popular vote. Ruttig, citing a former Taliban minister currently involved in the talks [actually from a 2017 paper by Borhan Osman and Anand Gopal], said the insurgents prefer that handpicked figures such as the ulama choose the country’s leaders.
“The presidential republic system… reserves one vote for both a layman and a well-educated person. Obviously, the laymen cannot make a perfect choice,” the former Taliban minister is quoted as saying in a New York University study.
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 9 Mar 2020
