Sunday, June 18, 2017

Governance News

NUG in Disarray. The National Unity Government (NUG) is proving to be very ineffective. There is a lot of conflict between the camps of President Ghani and CEO Abdullah. in addition, there is a significant amount of infighting within each camp. Factors such as patronage, corruption, ethnic sectarianism, and a diverse array of interests and political parties add to the destabilization of the Afghan government at the national level, the provincial level, and down to the district level. In addition, the instability of the Afghan government has had an extremely adverse effect on the security ministries and security forces.  The outlook appears bleak with no noticeable signs of improvement on the horizon.

Re-Upping the Quadrilateral Coordination Group. President Ghani and Prime Minister Sharif (Pakistan) have agreed to bring back the QCG in attempt to stem terrorism and keep open line of communication in order to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. This recent coordination took place during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit recently held in Astana, Kazakhstan. Read a press release by the Office of the President of Afghanistan, June 10, 2017. http://president.gov.af/en/News/0090

Amrullah Saleh Resigns. The state minister for security reforms has resigned. Saleh previously served as head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS). See "Amrullah Saleh Resigns as State Minister for Security Reforms", Tolo News, June 13,2017. The presidential palace indicated they were not informed officially about the resignation. Other observers have noted that the post was symbolic in nature and no real power to provide reforms was given to Saleh. Read "ARG Calls on Saleh to Clarify Reasons for Resigning", Tolo News, June 14, 2017. Certainly, this is not good for reforming the security ministries, diminishing corruption, or inspiring confidence in the Afghan government.

China to Mediate? The foreign minister of China is scheduled to visit Pakistan and Afghanistan to try to improve relations between the Kabul and Islamabad. See "China to Mediate Between Pakistan and Afghanistan", Gandhara, June 14, 2017.


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