Addressing a gathering of his supporters in Parwan province on Friday, Hizb-e-Islami leader Guldbuddin Hekmatyar stressed the need for an end to the rift on distribution of electronic national identity cards, saying that the country will move towards a crisis if the tension is not removed.
He said President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah’s disagreement on electronic national identity cards is not in favor of the country.
“This gathering asks in one voice that the electronic identity cards must be distributed. The word of Afghan, Islam and everyone’s ethnicity should be mentioned in the identity cards,” he said.
He added that the current situation is ‘not acceptable for the people’ and that the main reason behind the situation is ‘the weakness of the government leaders’.
Hekmatyar said the national electronic identity cards ‘must be distributed’. He said they support this process and that they will receive the identity cards.
Meanwhile, he called on the people to participate in the upcoming elections and select their leader and representatives through voting.
He blamed Iran for fueling ethnic rift in Afghanistan and said Iran helps "the infiltration of Daesh into Afghanistan".
“Daesh cannot come from Iraq or Russia. It has only one way which is Iran. They can only enter Afghanistan through Iran,” he added.
According to him, there are three factions of Daesh operating in Afghanistan: Iraqi Daesh, Taliban’s Daesh and Daesh in uniform.
“Daesh has three factions or three types. One is Iraqi Daesh, another is the Taliban’s former members who have left the group and are called Daesh right now. Their flag was white in the past but now it is black. And another faction which is far more dangerous than the two others is Daesh in uniform, the government’s Daesh,” he said.
Hekmatyar’s remarks come as the electronic national identity card system was officially launched in Kabul on Thursday when President Ashraf Ghani and the First Lady Rula Ghani were handed their cards.
Speaking at the event, Ghani said the roll out of the new system was in line with attempts to tighten security.
He said the new ID cards would hopefully cut down on the number of fake IDs (Tazkiras) in the country.
However, in a press conference shortly after Ghani’s remarks, the CEO of the National Unity Government (NUG) Abdullah Abdullah said the electronic ID card system was not legitimate and did not have the support of the Afghan people.
“The reason I have not participated in distribution of electronic Tazkiras is that I know this process has not received the needed legitimacy and support from the Afghan people. A one-sided decision that has been approved by all sides can only lead to crisis and more problems,” Abdullah said.