Internal divisions and the future of the Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan

 

The internal divisions and bargaining for power with the Presidential Palace was something that the Jamiat party had undertaken since the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG); however, recently, these internal disputes have escalated.

After the announcement of the acceptation of the former governor of Balkh’s resignation by the Afghan President and the appointment of Engineer Mohammad Dauod as the new governor of Balkh, Jamiat-e-Islami and Atta Mohammad Noor harshly reacted against this decision and said that this resignation was unacceptable and previously canceled.

Speaking in a gathering of his supporters, Atta Mohammad Noor fiercely criticized Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and even said that he was a “snake of the sleeve”. According to Atta, Dr. Abdullah played 80% role in his dismissal and said: “I will break his teeth.”

Speaking at a meeting of the ministers’ council, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah ridiculing the remarks of Atta said: “after this I will take care of my teeth.” Dr. Abdullah added that he did not have anything to do with the resignation of Atta because, he said, Atta himself was negotiating with the Presidential Palace; however, he said that the acceptation of Atta’s resignation was done with the agreement of him and other Jamiat leaders.

These exchange of words between the two Jamiat leaders have sparked the reactions of the other Jamiat members as well, which indicates the division between the fractions of the Jamiat party. The leader of “Rawand-e-Sabz” Amrullah Saleh and Adib Fahim, the deputy director of National Directorate of Security, have backed Dr. Abdullah but Ismael Khan, a member of Jamiat’s leadership council, has supported Atta and has said that Dr. Abdullah has failed to represent Jamiat-e-Islami.

Here you would read about the divisions in Jamiat-e-Islami, confrontation between Jamiat and the NUG, and the future of this party.  

 

The internal differences in Jamiat-e-Islami

Jamiat-e-Islami was found in 1370s by Burhanuddin Rabbani and until his death in 2011, he was the leader of the party. After Austad Rabbani, his son Salahuddin Rabbani was elected as the new leader of the party and Atta Mohammad Noor was announced as the Chief Executive of the party. During the Afghan Jihad against the Soviet Union, this party was one of the significant Jihadi groups and after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from the country, it played a key role in the Afghan civil war. After the overthrow of the Taliban regime until now, this party is present in the structure of the Afghan government.

The internal differences in this party is not a new issue, from time to time, as all other parties and groups, this party has also experienced internal divisions. After 2001, the main leaders of the party such as Dr. Abdullah, Marshal Mohammad Qaseem Fahim, and Mohammad Yunis Qanoni were trying to marginalize Austad Rabbani, as explained by a member of Jamiat, Mohammad Akram Andishmand, in his book “The US in Afghanistan”.

In the past three elections in the country, the members of Jamiat did not have a united stand. Although this situation was explained as the party’s effort to be present in all of the leading electoral camps, it also indicated the differences among its members. In addition to the elections, the members of this party was divided over some other issues as well.

One of the main members of the party, Ahmad Zia Masood was Karzai’s Vice President in the 2004 Presidential elections and stood against the other member of the party Yunus Qanooni.

In the 2009 Presidential elections, Mohammad Qaseem Fahim stood as the First Vice President of Karzai and his other colleague Dr. Abdullah Abdullah as the Presidential Candidate. In 2010, Abdul Hafiz Mansoor stood against Yunus Qanooni in the elections inside the parliament to elect the speaker of Wolesi Jirga.

In 2014, Ahamad Zia Masood stood beside Ashraf Ghani against Abdullah Abdullah. Atta Mohammad Noor, who was supporting Abdullah in the elections, entered in negotiations with the Presidential Palace last year, opposing Dr. Abdullah Abdullah in his deals with the government. These oppositions escalated to a scale that once Noor said he no longer had any relation with the Chief Executive Office and that he had separated his way from that of this office.

In the follow up of these disagreements, the recent remarks of Mr. Noor against Dr. Abdullah and accusing him of betraying the Jamiat party is unprecedented.

On the other hand, while Jamiat-e-Islami fiercely reacted against this decision of the government, Dr. Abdullah said that the Jamiat leaders agreed the acceptation of Atta’s resignation.

 

The confrontation of the NUG and Jamiat party

The NUG has faced the opposition of Jamiat over power sharing since its formation. These oppositions reached a phase that Dr. Abdullah publicly showed his dissatisfaction with the decisions of the President and accused him of monopolizing the power. That is why the International Crisis Group has written in its report on 10 April 2017 that there was serious division in the NUG and that the main reason behind it was the differences between the President and the Chief Executive.

After the relative settlement of the differences between the President and the Chief Executive, Atta Mohammad Noor said that he was not happy with the performance of Abdullah Abdullah and entered negotiations with the government to gain Jamiat’s share of power from the government and during these negotiations, Atta Mohammad Noor submitted an undated letter or his resignation to the Presidential Palace.

In addition, Ahmad Zia Masood, Jamiat’s leadership member and the former representative of the President in reforms and governance, was continuingly criticizing the President and the performance of the government, despite being a senior government official himself. When he was dismissed by the President, he spoke of political instability and the beginning of a civil war in the country and thus opposed the government.

The Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sallahuddin Rabbani, is also one of the peoples who formed the Coalition of Afghanistan’s Salvation in Turkey along with some other senior government officials. 

The continuing confrontation of Jamiat party with the Afghan government over the issue of power shows that this party is concerned about the presence and power of the party in the government.

 

The future of Jamiat-e-Islami

Given the current divisions among the senior officials of Jamiat party, the opposition of the “Besiege Council of Jamiat” with the leadership of the party and the existence of other political circles led by the main members of Jamiat shows that this party is experiencing division and disagreements among its memebers.

Currently, Amrullah Saleh has a trend “Rwawand-e-Sabz”, Yunus Qanooni has a trend “Afghanistan-e-Nawin”, Ahmad Zia Masood had “Jabha-e-Mili” movement, Ahmad Wali Masood has a foundation “The Ahmad Shah Masood Foundation”, and Ismael Khan leads the “The Mujahidin Council” in Herat. The very existence of these political groups shows that the members of this party are making individual efforts to gain political privileges. These efforts can result in more political power for these members at the cost of the party’s unity.

It seems that the dismissal of Atta Mohammad Noor will further weaken Jamiat party and reduce its role in the Afghan political scene. Therefore, Jamiat-e-Islami may resist against this decision of the government to the end. In the meanwhile, the presidential palace may not step back from its decision. It seems that this issue will gradually challenge the political stability of the country and if a group or circle tried to challenge the stability of the country, the present foreign forces will most probably intervene in the support of the government, as expressed by Atta Mohammad Noor for several times.

The End