There are reports that today in Kabul, talks took place towards the process of forming a new government. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the leader of the Taliban political wing, arrived today in Kabul. In recent days he has had important strategic meetings, including in Beijing. Preliminary edia reports say that he met with former President Hamid Karzai, and with Addullah Abdullah, the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation.
An unnamed Taliban official told Reuters today that the group planned to ready a new model for governing Afghanistan within the next few weeks. The new framework for governing the country would not be a democracy by Western definition but “It will protect everyone’s rights,” the official added. “Legal, religious and foreign policy experts in the Taliban aim to present the new governing framework in the next few weeks,” he said.
The Taliban are also saying that they have no intention of forming an interim government, instead aiming for a permanent government from the outset. Senior Taliban member Mullah Ahmadullah Wasiq reportedly told the BBC that the slowness in filling the political vacuum in Afghanistan is their intention for creating an inclusive government that is acceptable by all parties in Afghanistan. A council that includes former President Hamid Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah, and the head of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbudin Hekmatyar are all involved in those discussions.
