Some lawmakers in the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Parliament, have claimed that the High Peace Council’s offices are being used as election campaign centers for the president. 
 
“In provinces, there are individuals under the name of employees of the High Peace Council. These offices are (electoral) campaign centers,” Lalai Hamidzai, an MP from Kandahar, said. 
 
They also claimed that millions of dollars has been wasted on the council which they say has not achieved much success. 
 
“The money invested (in the High Peace Council) should be made clear. Who has brought those Taliban (to the peace process) and who have they talked with? All these (questions) must be answered. This money belongs to the nation,” Allah Gul Mujahid, an MP, said.
 
“The political peace and the American peace were not accepted by anyone in Afghanistan. Anti-government militants have not accepted it,” said Habiburrahman Afghan, an MP.
 
The High Peace Council’s spokesman Ehsanullah Tahiri meanwhile rejected the allegations, saying the council’s activities have been effective in the reconciliation process.
 
“The High Peace Council of Afghanistan is not a campaign institution for anyone from the Afghan government. Anyone who claims this should bring their document and we will talk to them,” he told TOLOnews.
 
The legislators make the claim at a time that the Afghan government sees the High Peace Council as a must for the reconciliation process.