In a post on social media, former President Ashraf Ghani said he is ready to play a role in finding a solution to “Afghanistan’s crisis, ensuring peace and bolstering national unity.”
Ghani warned that the country is at a crossroads. “We are either heading toward deeper decline or we must build a clever national consensus based on our shared interests,” he wrote.
He said that to chart the right course, Afghans must ask three urgent questions: “What are our national interests? How can we reach consensus on them? And what practical steps will make them real?”
“I am ready to play a role in finding a solution to Afghanistan’s crisis, ensuring peace and bolstering national unity,” he said.
In his commentary, Ghani pointed to the forced return of millions of Afghan migrants, devastating earthquakes, and what he described as Pakistan’s military incursions into Afghan territory as factors that have placed the country in a “far more sensitive position than before.” Each, he said, deepens the need for immediate and intelligent action.
“The right to peace must be restored to the Afghan people,” he asserted. “Sustainable peace is essential for legitimacy, security, economic development and welfare.” He added that Afghanistan has been deprived of that right for 47 years.
Ghani offered a stark prediction for the coming two years. “Afghanistan will either move toward reconstruction and stability or fall into an even deeper abyss,” the former president said.
He called on Afghans to unite, forge a forward path, reestablish ties with the world and create a fresh national consensus, one grounded in the will of the majority.
“I seek nothing for myself,” he noted. “But if the people want, I stand ready to help find solutions, secure peace and strengthen national unity.”
After his abrupt departure from Afghanistan in August 2021, when Taliban entered Kabul and the government collapsed. Since then, he has remained abroad, maintaining a low profile while Afghanistan’s political, economic and humanitarian crises have deepened under Taliban rule.
Under Taliban rule over the past four years, Afghanistan is faced with a worsening economy as well as increasing restrictions on women and girls’ rights.
