Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday called on the government to postpone election and focus on peace.
Speaking at a press conference in Kabul, Karzai said that election can be held and people determine their future “only in a free and peaceful” Afghanistan.
“Real election is possible when the country is peaceful and all Afghans could participate without fear and with full freedom,” Karzai said. “In a country where hundreds of people are killed, we cannot even hold rallies and people are killed in them. How can we hold election there?”
Karzai also called on US to restart talks with the Taliban, which had been cancelled by President Donald Trump.
He said that the talks should be clear and transparent.
He urged the Taliban that as a Muslim and Afghan they should sit with other Afghans and begin intra-Afghan negotiations, before Afghans present their decision to foreigners with “national strength.”
Afghanistan’s presidential election is scheduled to be held on September 28. The government has said that efforts for peace have been suspended until after election.
