PROPOSAL OF MOHAMMAD ZAHIR SHAH FOR CONVENING A LOYA JIRGA

January 17, 1993

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MERCIFUL, THE BENEFICENT

For the last fourteen years the people of Afghanistan have witnessed one of the longest, most painful, and bloodiest conflicts in the history of modern times. This conflict has already left over one million martyrs and dead; tens of thousands have been forced to flee their country. Several million destitute Afghans are still living in refugee camps in the neighboring countries of Pakistan and Iran, and other nations such as India, the European nations, the United States, and other countries.

This long and painful conflict has destroyed the public and the private infrastructure of the afghan nation. Health care, education, and other social services are not available, and the national economy has totally collapsed.

The suffering people of Afghanistan have become exhausted by the continuation of this bloody conflict a conflict which now threatens the very survival of the afghan nation and we should not and can not agree with its continuation.

The people of Afghanistan wish to see an end to this situation an end that guarantees their legitimate right to ensure their national unity in an Islamic, united and indivisible, free and independent Afghanistan.

The events in the country in the past eight months have proven in practice that ignoring the national realities, adopting hasty decisions in the absence of the free will of the afghan people, fighting to acquire power, and foreign interventions have not produced anything but a continuation of the suffering and an enhancement of the destruction of the country. It is time that a just, protocol, and acceptable settlement to the Afghan problem should be sought through realism and respect for the will of the afghan nation.

What is required to end this painful situation is the development and implementation of an effective and credible political interaction that can help the afghan people exercise their free will to achieve and end to this unfavorable circumstance.

It is in light of such a vital necessity that I, as a life long servant of my country, propose a practical program to help my dear compatriots resolve the problem of our nation.

Such a practical program is proposed on the basis of my Islamic and national responsibility to help the people of Afghanistan realize their objectives for ensuring peace and self-determination.

The program that I propose is a multi-phase political interaction which will conclude with the formation of a broad based national government in Afghanistan an elected government that is seen as legitimate and acceptable to the majority of the afghan people, and credible in the international community, particularly to those who are ready to help the people of Afghanistan rebuild, after a long period of destructive war, the infrastructure of their country.

Respecting the great Islamic, national, and traditional values of the people of Afghanistan, the first major step of this proposal is the necessity of convening an afghan Ezterary Loya Jirga (Emergency Grand Assembly).

The basic objective of this emergency Loa Jirga is to pave the ground for the participation of the genuine representatives of all segments of the Afghan nation in electing the head of state (president) of Afghanistan, and the ratification of a provisional government proposed by the head of state, to perform the tasks of the provisional period. The provisional period will last until the holding of a UN supervised general election to elect a new Afghan government.


The implementation of this proposal will begin with the formation of an organizing delegation composed of distinguished, credible, and effective Afghan personalities who will be chosen as a result of an inter-Afghan understanding. The tasks of this delegation will be to organize and pave the ground for the convocation of the Emergency Loya Jirga. Respecting the free will of the people of Afghanistan, I propose that this Emergency Loya Jirga be convened as part of the following three phases:


1. Formation of an Organizing Delegation composed of distinguished and effective

Afghan personalities, With the cooperation of the United Nations, and through an inter-Afghan understanding, to formulate and implement a plan for the convocation of the Emergency Loya Jirga. This plan, completed with the close and effective cooperation of the United Nations Secretary General, will pave the ground for the convocation of a well-organized emergency Loya Jirga.


The organizing delegation will cooperate with the United Nations to obtain the support of all parties concerned in the Afghan problem necessary for the convocation of the Emergency Loya Jirga. It should also succeed in obtaining the consent of international sources interested in a restoration of peace, and assuring the right to self-determination, for the Afghan nation.


2. During the second phase of this plan the organizing delegation will be able to
Convene the Emergency Loya Jirga.

As already noted, the Emergency Loya Jirga will elect a head of state (president) of Afghanistan for the transition period and decide a vote of confidence on the government that will be introduced by the president. This government will take charge of the executive affairs of the country until UN supervised general elections are held to form a new Afghan government. The Emergency Loya Jirga will delimit the tasks and responsibilities of the provisional government and the duration of tits term of office. The main tasks of the provisional government will be to draft a new constitution for Afghanistan, restore order security, and provide the people of Afghanistan the opportunity to begin the task of rebuilding their country. In addition, this government will have the tasks of creating the conditions needed for the return of the Afghan refugees to their homeland, and it will draft rules and regulations for the United Nations supervised general elections.

3. When the provisional government has accomplished its entrusted tasks and responsibilities it will call a traditional Afghan Loya Jirga to ratify the constitution of Afghanistan. The tasks of this Grand Assembly will be to debate the draft of the new constitution, ratify that constitution, and approve the rules and regulations for the UN supervised general election.
The general election will provide the people of Afghanistan an opportunity to exercise their legitimate and free right to elect ahead of state and a government for their country within a legally defined period.

I believe that with the completion of the phases of this political interaction that I propose at this sensitive stage in the history of Afghanistan, the Moslem and freedom loving people of Afghanistan will succeed in reconsolidating the Islamic, national, political, social values of their society as a united nation.

The successful materialization of this proposal will guarantee the restoration of peace, tranquility, and unity and ensure the realization of the objectives of Jihad, and the well being and human dignity of the noble Afghan nation.

I ask God the Great to grant success to the Muslim nation of Afghanistan in accomplishing this Islamic, national and humanitarian mission. Victory comes from God.

Mohammad Zahir

The Former King of Afghanistan