Hikmatyar calls for an elected government:
Blueprint for future setup proposed By Mohammed Riaz Dawn, March 26, 2001

PESHAWAR, March 25: Former prime minister and chief of his own faction of Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan, Gulbadin Hikmatyar, has proposed a blueprint for replacing the present crisis-prone setup with an elected parliament, representing all factions, a firm and clean government and an independent judiciary based on democratic principles and guided by Shariat.

The Tehran-based HIA chief, who convened a meeting of his party a month back, conveyed its decisions to HIA's Political Cell here on Saturday night.

Dr Ghairat Baheer, in charge of political affairs, told Dawn that Mr Hikmatyar had sent him a blueprint of a future Afghanistan government.

"We will ask the Taliban, the Northern Alliance and other organizations to go through the plan and give a positive response as it is the only way to take our country out of the present mess".

According to the plan, a HIA peace mission will hold talks with all parties and seek their support for its implementation; Shariat will be the supreme law in Afghanistan and all parties must honour it; power will rest with the nation; government will serve the people and act as an instrument for defendin their property, life and honour; people will choose head of government by using their right to franchise; head of government will seek guidance from an elected parliament; parliament will make all sorts of legislation and act as a watchdog; cabinet will seek a vote of confidence from parliament; the judiciary will be independent in enacting laws according to the Holy Quran and Sunnah; no other authority willintervene in affairs of judiciary; no one will be punished except by a court of law.

If all the parties agree to the above points, a caretaker Shoora (parliament) and a caretaker government, to be set up for two years, will come into being to hold general election under the supervision of an independent and autonomous election commission, to be established by the caretaker government.

(a) The Taliban will be given a chance to nominate head of the caretaker government;
(b) This provisional government will hold elections and will a vote of confidence from the provisional parliament;
(c) A 220-member provisional parliament will comprise 120 members from the Taliban, 20 from the Northern Alliance,

30 from Afghans living in Pakistan, 20 from Afghans living in Iran, 10 from Europe, 10 from the United States, five from Arab countries and seven from the Central Asian States.

The parliament will act as a watchdog till general elections is held.
It will prepare outlines for a national constitution; it will nominate a chief justice and other judges with a two-thirds majority; it will set up anindependent and autonomous election commission for general election and a defence commission to raise a national army; and it will transfer power to an elected government.

The government, which will come into being in the light of above formula, will be a constitutional and sovereign body.

It will develop friendly relations with neighbouring countries, particularly those which had been involved with the afghan problem for years. the future government will urge neighbouring countries to stop shipment of arms to Afghanistan and end their interference in internal affairs of Afghanistan.

The neighbouring countries will be asked to send their observers to monitor general election. Afghanistan will not become a source of trouble and will not harbour terrorists and criminals. It will eliminate drug trafficking and gunrunning through itsborders, and adopt a policy of non-alignment in the region. Taliban's response to the plan could not be known.