Doing away with the Republic would cost Afghanistan dearly: Ghani

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Sunday that any interruption in the Republic governing system would come at a great cost to the country especially as it currently provides equality to all Afghans.

Speaking at a meeting with members of the Shia Ulema (scholars) Council of Afghanistan at the Presidential Palace,Ghani said: “The Republic is an umbrella and a bed where the equality of all Afghans is ensured.”

“Our security and defense forces have not lost the war, and the full international legitimacy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan remains, and the United States is a partner of the Afghan government and our security and defense forces,” Ghani added.

The meeting was also attended by Sarwar Danish, second vice president, and Mohammad Mohaqiqm, a senior advisor to Ghani on security and political affairs.

Ghani also said that in setting the goal of peace, with the world and the region, is to ensure an independent Afghanistan that enjoys national sovereignty, democracy and national unity.

He also stated that “way to other stages of negotiations is to do it carefully, prudently and confidently.

“We are not ready for an apology or surrender and we want a peace in which there is survival, prosperity and national unity,” Ghani said.

Mohammad Akbari, deputy head of the council, said in turn the Ulema council is “working with a moderate policy and a clear path to strengthen the foundations of Islamic brotherhood and national unity, and is calling for peace and an end to the war in the country; and it supports the preservation of the Constitution, and the system of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.”