Writer: Mohammad Ali Nazari
The issue of power in Afghanistan is accompanied by persistent political disagreements. For the past four years, opponents of the caretaker government have presented a scenario to the people in the name of transferring power, which ostensibly speaks of the rights of the people and the restoration of popular government, but in reality, its goal is to hand over power to a few political movements, proxy groups, and parties.
The caretaker government, which came to power after a twenty-year struggle for independence against foreign invaders and the fallen republic, supported by the people, considers its opponents to be devoid of popular legitimacy. Conversely, they portray only themselves as the true representative of the people and the embodiment of the nation’s will. However, these claims are at odds with facts and evidence.
Afghanistan’s past twenty-year republic was a limited and flawed example of the concept of democracy. Although this republic was called a democratic government, in practice, it was an unequal distribution of power among ethnic, party, and foreign-backed groups. The entire period of the fallen republic was based on foreign influence and ethnic monopoly rather than popular participation. True power and representation were limited to the entire population, and in many cases, power was solely in the hands of a few of those dark figures and groups who have also raised the banner of opposition today.
Those who are today echoing the call for the transfer of power to the people are the same officials from yesterday who disregarded the fundamental principles of their proclaimed democracy and used power for the preservation of a few limited parties instead of for the social good. Today’s opponents are the same officials from yesterday who valued personal and party interests over the interests of the country and the people, and always want the people to be their sacrifice.
This power transfer is a deceptive scenario, nothing more than the unscrupulous exploitation of the people’s emotions. The opposition supports this scenario for reaching power and political gain but ignores all the realities about the caretaker government. They may have forgotten the days four years ago, when the same people first drove them out of hundreds of districts across the country and then out of the provinces, finally establishing a central government. The current rulers are the children of the same people who fought for twenty years to overthrow the occupation and the republic, which is why their rule is colored by the people.
Simultaneously, the opponents of the caretaker government have been kept the issue of public legitimacy alive in recent days. They raised this issue after the caretaker government made progress and took steps toward international legitimacy. The opposition, lost and confused, has turned to the issue of internal legitimacy with the recognition and wants to lead their propaganda apparatus with false and misleading slogans. They are slowly facing failure in every propaganda tactic, and every door thru which they want to make their illegitimate groups popular among the people is being closed to them.
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