KABUL (Pajhwok): Sardar Mohammad Nader Naeem, the presidential contender says if he is elected as president he will eliminate the menace of corruption, ensure rule of law and push forward the nascent peace process.
In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, the presidential hopeful assured he would equally treat all Afghans and withdraw extra ordinary privileges enjoyed by some influential.
“I will primarily try my level best to tackle the menace of administrative corruption and implement rule of law in larger interests of my country,” the presidential candidate remarked.
He said the use of latest technology would be introduced to ensure transparency and good governance and materialize his promises with nation once he was elected as president of Afghanistan.
A of neutral team individuals, tribal elders and Ulamas would be formed which would be empowered to move forward the dialogue process with Taliban, he informed.
He went on to say that demands and grievances of each and every group whether they were in Kunar or Kandahar would be addressed as per their wishes by keeping interests of the country aloft.
When asked why he came forward to contest the presidential elections, he said following the decision of a tribal Jirga, he was forced to contest the elections for the presidential slot to serve the nation and country.
“Indubitably, Afghanistan faces formidable external and internal challenges. And amid this situation, the next president should have a pious Muslim and a patriotic Afghan who can sacrifice his personal interests over national interests,” he noted.
Talking about his priorities, he said accelerated steps would be taken for sustainable peace and stability and to remove the saga of growing corruption once he was elected as president.
He would try hard to create job opportunities for the country’s 65% youth---a move that would help ensure peace and tranquility in the war-torn country.
On peace and security, he said there was dire need to identify reasons behind the ongoing conflict in the country they he would be in a better position to take tangible steps for its remedy.
Criticized the incumbent government, he said the sitting government did not perform well as per his expectations during the last 12-years rule while peace remained elusive continuously.
“Trust deficit between government and armed opposition groups is a serious problem which halted progress to move forward the peace process. But I will suggest formation of a neutral team to visit the nook and corner of the county to woo the warning groups to shun violence,” he added.
He rejected the idea of complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan--- a prior demand of Taliban for peace talks--- saying the Afghan Taliban were tired to fight anymore and want peace.
Confidence building measures were needed to be adopted ahead of talks with militants, he remarked.
“Afghans need to fully back the Afghan National Army (ANA), Afghan National Police (ANA) and other security agencies for a prosperous Afghanistan,” he added.
Bullet was not the solution to achieve durable peace, he said, adding that war only brought destruction and catastrophe to the nation and country that’s why efforts were needed to establish peace in the country.
He wanted better equipment of ANA with advanced technology to face the growing challenges in the future.
On Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US, he acknowledged Afghanistan was far away from achieving self reliance and the country direly needed sustained international support.
“We need to respect the decision of the consultative Loya Jirga summoned by the president to discuss the vital security pact,” he added.
“I hope the BSA will be signed in near future despite considerable delay to ink the vital security agreement,” he hoped.
Criticizing President Hamid Karzai for setting conditions to sign the BSA, he said those condition should have been finalized with the foreigners much earlier.
“The BSA is in the interest of Afghanistan,” he added.
Talking about the structure of his government, he said building peace and stability were among his top priorities and his government would have representation of all ethnicities living in Afghanistan.
He would appoint talented individuals to the government position and would not allow nepotism and corruption or unfair means to enter into government jobs.
“The saga of corruption spread in our society like cancer. Elimination of corruption needs determination and proper strategy and mechanism to get rid society of the menace,” he added.
The country direly needed implementation of law, he said, adding that complaints by ordinary citizens should be filed through a proper computerized system so that they could be addressed properly.
On freedom of expression, he said that freedom of speech was among the main pillars of democracy and that right would not be allowed to be trampled.
Referring to women rights, he said that it was a matter of great concern for him to see violation of women rights in the country.
“We are Muslims and woman rightsareprotected in Islam. We will take measure to ensure human rights. As for as I am concerned, once I am elected my government will not tolerate violation of human or women rights,” he promised.
Referring to the vital education sector, he acknowledged some achievements had been made in the education sector but much more was needed to be done to equip the kids of the nation with modern education for a better tomorrow.
“The education quantity has increased but the quality is low. If we focus on Kabul University, the university was very popular in the past, but now it is weak in quality education. And there is no control on private universities. They are business centers and it is a matter of concerns for me. I will like to introduce tangible reforms in education sector,” he vowed.
On economy, he said the weak economy was really a big problem for the country and Afghanistan import was 95% and while its export stood at 5%.
“There is no balance at all. We have our plans to raise the level of exports in a move to achieve economic self reliance,” he added.
He said special measures would be taken to promote the vital agriculture sector and thewhich would be put on modern lines with introduction of advanced agro technologies.
The country’s transport sector has developedto some extent during the recent past decade, he acknowledged, adding he would prefer to connect the Central Asia and South Asian countries.
He promised to build railway lines which would help bring economic development and prosperity to the country.
“Natural reservoirs should be utilized for the prosperity of the nation and country but steps were not taken to properly utilize the sector,” he added.
To another question, he said: “We had donor conferences in which donors have promised to provide Afghanistan with assistance. They assisted Afghanistan in the past and will do in the future. But we didn’t have the required capacity of transparent management of spending of the aids.”
He went on to say: “In my opinion, the world does not want Afghanistan to be involved in internal conflict again. We should show the world that Afghanistan is serious in countering corruption and can spend donors’ money in a transparent way.”
On refugees’ repatriation, strategy would be chalked out for the repatriation of refugees in a respectable way, he said, adding cooperation of other countries would be needed during the repatriation process.
