Afghan Biographies
National Front of Afghanistan NFA
Name | National Front of Afghanistan NFA |
Ethnic backgr. | |
Date of birth | |
Function/Grade | Background NFA Relaunch |
History and Biodata | A renewed political coalition called " National Front of Afghanistan" (Jabha-e Milli-e Afghanistan) came into being on 20111111 to challenge the present administration run by President Hamid Karzai. The convention held in the big hall of "Sitare Shar" accommodated around two thousand people and has been the largest anti Karzai meeting so far. A majority of the audience appear to have been Uzbeks and Hazaras, with only small numbers of (eastern) Pashtuns and Tajiks. This reflects the balance of the parties and leaders in the coalition, ie major Uzbek and Hazara and only minor Pashtun and Tajik figures. The Front’s declaration calls for a prime ministerial, parliamentary system, with an increase in the authority of provincial councils and governors, a change to a proportional electoral system and reforms to the judiciary. Leadership of the platform, teamed by former Vice President Ahmad Zia Masoud, legislator and leader of the People's Unity Party of Afghanistan Hajji Mohammad Mohaqiq, former strongman of the north and head of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan General Abdul Rashid Dustam, former spy agency chief Amrullah Saleh and tribal leader Hajji Aman Khairi from eastern Nangahar province, had criticized the Karzai government for what they described "a failed administration" and advocated for the decentralization of power. The spokesman of General Dustam at the meeting was Azizullah Kargar, the new chairman of the Junbish Mili Islami party elected 20130224. Azizullah Kargar has been appointed and is heading the National Islamic Movement Party of Afghanistan.(20130216) It is the second political opposition front that has been formed to challenge the Karzai government. The first political coalition titled "Coalition for Hope and Change" established a couple of years ago and is headed by President Karzai's main challenger in the previous presidential election Abdullah Abdullah. It has also been advocating for parliamentary system. Masud, an ethnic Tajik, is the younger brother of late Ahmad Shah Masud, the noted guerrilla commander who fought the Red Army and the Taliban in the 1980s and 1990s. His alliance with ethnic Hazara leader Mohaqiq and Uzbek strongmen Dostum echoes of the Northern Alliance, the coalition of warring militias that united to fight the Taliban after its emergence in the mid-1990s. The National Front shares common ground with other opposition groups with connections to the Northern Alliance. Its main objective of replacing the current directly elected presidential system with a parliamentary democracy, in which the prime minister runs the government, is identical to the Coalition for Hope and Change, headed by former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. This group is now considered the main opposition bloc. Background: The revived Front looks like the best stage for Massud to reassert himself in a leadership role among the former mujahedin. Jamiatis who follow Massud will probably join the Front, but – as is usual in Afghanistan – probably not give up their Jamiat membership. Marshal Fahim, the first vice president, and Ustad Atta the governor of Balkh who dominates the north, have huge capacity to attract Jamiatis and reward their loyalty; Dr. Abdullah, the main rival of President Karzai in the 2009 elections, still has relevant connections with several Jamiatis and even Ahmad Zia’s brother Ahmad Wali Massud supports him. Furthermore, there are other Jamiati leaders who own their own pieces of the party’s constituency: Yunus Qanuni, Amrullah Saleh and the current acting minister of Water and Energy Ismail Khan. This can give an idea of what is left for Ahmad Zia to take of Jamiat, once one takes out the share of Salahuddin Rabbani too. |
Last Modified | 2013-06-19 |
Established | 2011-11-11 |