HEZB-E-ISLAMI AFGHANISTAN PARTY CHAIR ON CARETAKER

UNCLAS KABUL 000392

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV AF
SUBJECT: HEZB-E-ISLAMI AFGHANISTAN PARTY CHAIR ON CARETAKER
GOVERNMENT


1. (SBU) Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) Chairman Arghandewal
on 2/22 told PolCouns his party would not make a "big deal"
of the post-5/22 period following the constitutional
expiration of President Karzai's term, even though most party
members want Karzai to resign if he intends to run for
re-election. HIA's executive committee supported the 8/20
election date, but had not yet decided on a favored
candidate. Arghandewal held out the option of supporting
Karzai if the president offered HIA a vice president slot,
but was generally downbeat on the government's performance
over the past several years.


2. (SBU) Arghandewal recently joined talks led by Pir
Gailani aimed at resolving disagreements among Afghan
political leaders regarding post-5/22 executive authority.
Based on his attendance at two meetings, Arghandewal felt
some participants were not seriously committed to finding a
consensus and were playing the Palace and the opposition for
their own benefit. HIA's preferred solution would be for
Karzai not to seek re-election, in which case it would have
no objection if he remained in office until the inauguration.
If Karzai wished to run, HIA would call for an interim
government headed by Upper House Speaker Mojaddedi. In such
a scenario, HIA would call on Mojaddedi to replace some of
Karzai's strongest supporters in the Cabinet, to prevent what
HIA feared would be official efforts to influence the
election outcome. Arghandewal admitted these positions
showed HIA was more concerned with Karzai's interference in
the election than with following a literal interpretation of
the Constitution.


3. (SBU) PolCouns outlined the U.S. position: resolution of
the executive authority issue required Afghan political
leaders (including Karzai and key opposition leaders) to work
together to find an agreed-to political solution. The United
States would advocate no specific outcome, but would insist
the eventual solution preserve the 8/20 election, maintain a
strong government during the peak fighting season, and
support the authority and goals of the Constitution.


4. (SBU) Arghandewal looked forward to closer cooperation
with the new U.S. administration. HIA and the U.S. shared
common interests, such as promoting good governance and
opposing negative Russian and Iranian influence in Afghan
affairs. However, Arghandewal's pro-U.S. stance and moderate
positions on many issues may still be out of line with his
party's grassroots membership, as he demurred when asked if
HIA would publicly support increased U.S. troop deployments.
HIA members were more interested in supporting U.S. positions
on non-military solutions to Afghanistan's problems, he said.
DELL