US Interim Peace Plan Spurs Meetings in Afghanistan

Over the weekend, the US held meetings and submitted letters presenting a draft proposal to the Afghan government and Taliban, seeking to establish an interim solution to kickstart the intra-Afghan peace talks.

The proposal starts with a ceasefire, and then moves for establishing an interim government to start the process of post-war elections. The interim government would include Taliban figures, either by adding them to the existing parliament or replacing the parliament with a new joint body.

It is in the interim government that the US proposal is bold, as even though it is an obvious step after the war ends, the Ghani government has ruled out interim governments repeatedly, not wanting to share power, and some top officials were quick to scorn the US plan as anti-democratic.

It isn’t clear if that’s their final answer, and Afghan leaders are meeting to discuss the US proposal. The expectation is that Ghani remains opposed and will want to scorn the deal, or spin it as a US betrayal.

With signs the US was considering bailing on the whole peace process, the Taliban seems a lot more upbeat in this own discussions, saying that they appreciate that the US has made a “serious” proposal to get talks going.

This has become a put-up or shut-up time for Afghan talks, after months of delays, as the US proposal either starts discussions on interim power-sharing, or kills the last of the deal by making it apparent that the Ghani government is not going to go along with that under any conditions.