On Thursday, February 07, 2019, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held a roundtable discussion on “Dr. Najibullah’s Reconciliation Plan”. Distinguished, academics, civil society members and media representatives attended the event. The purpose of the program was to examine the causes and factors of the failure of Dr. Najibullah’s Reconciliation Plan and compare it with the current situation and ongoing peace process undertaken by the US and the government of Afghanistan.

The speakers and members of the panel included Gen. Abdul Hadi Khalid, Advisor to Minister of Interior and Expert on Political and Military Affairs; Gen. M. Zahir Azimi, former Spokesperson of Ministry of Defense; and Ferdaws Kawish, Senior Analyst for Hashte Subh Daily Newspaper. The moderator for the panel was Abdullah Khenjani.

In the beginning of the event, Gen. Khalid discussed events that occurred during Dr. Najibullah’s regime and the nature of the conflict in that era. He also mentioned the events surrounding Dr. Najibullah’s Reconciliation Plan. Gen. Azimi touched on the objectives of Dr. Najibullah’s reconciliation plan, which included a) A unilateral ceasefire b) Formation of a Coalition Government and c) Repatriation of Afghan refugees. The factors that led to the failure of the reconciliation plan were a) Lack of implementation of the planned ceasefire b) Lack of consensus in PDPA over the reconciliation plan, and c) Lack of regional/international support to the plan. Ferdaws Kawish discussed and compared events and the factors in the national, regional and international level that led to the failure of Dr. Najibullah’s reconciliation plan. Kawish highlighted decisions undertaken in the UN and the UN’s proposals for reconciliation in Afghanistan.

The event ended with the Q&A session.