Political reconciliation should be the top agenda of the new Afghan government that takes office after the August 20 presidential elections, a top UN official stationed in the strife-torn country has said.
"I'm repeating over and over again that it is an illusion to believe that it is primarily military forces that can bring that conflict to an end. It is political efforts that have to be at the top of our agenda," Kai Eide, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, told the UN News Centre in an interview.
Eide heads the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA). He said the most important challenges the new Government will face after the August 20 elections are to maintain stability in the country and to ensure that all candidates accept the results.
"I'm pleased to see that it is gradually being understood more broadly in the international community," Eide said, adding there is "still some way to go in order to understand that what we do has to be based on a political strategy and not on a military strategy."
Stressing that reconciliation efforts should be launched as soon as a new Government is formed to embrace all parts of Afghan society including insurgents, Eide said it should be left up to the next administration to direct any bid to heal the strife-torn nation's divisions.
The Special UN Envoy for Afghanistan said the Afghan election as by far the most difficult and complex he has ever seen. More than 3,000 donkeys are being used to deliver ballot papers to the most remote regions. Although flaws existed in the process, the campaigns were dignified and the political debate intense, he said.
"The biggest challenge, of course, is the ongoing armed conflict and to bring that to an end," he said, adding that as Afghanistan enters "a calmer season on the battleground, we have half a year in order to get that peace process under way."
