Exclusive: Taliban prepare to unveil government

Published on : 09/02/2021 – 09:28

The Taliban are preparing Thursday, September 2 to unveil their government as the Afghan economy is on the brink of collapse two weeks after the capture of Kabul and the end of a twenty-year war.

“Nothing works in Afghanistan in this transitional period”, reports Cyril Payen, France 24 special envoy in Kabul. “Hundreds of Afghans are lining up in front of the ministries which are closed” and “there are serious shortages of liquid”. A “dull anger” settles in Kabul at the difficult daily life of the Afghans, forcing the Taliban to act quickly to revive the country’s economy.

A representative of the movement said on social media that a ceremony was being prepared at the presidential palace in Kabul and the private television station Tolo said the announcement of the new government was imminent.

The Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, should be given ultimate power over a board of governors, with a president under his responsibility, a Taliban representative told Reuters last month.

Confused donors

The legitimacy of the new government in the eyes of the donor community and international investors will be paramount for the Afghan economy, which analysts say will collapse after the Taliban take power.

After a reign – which lasted from 1996 to 2001 – marked by a very rigorous interpretation of Islamic law, the Taliban attempted to show a more moderate face, promising to protect human rights and not to retaliate against them. old enemies.

Many countries, such as the United States or the European Union, however, have expressed doubts about such commitments, specifying that the formal recognition of the new Afghan government, and the economic aid that would result from it, would be conditional on acts.

Economic collapse

Aid organizations have warned of disaster after severe drought and turmoil in war forced thousands of families to flee their homes.

Afghanistan needs money, but the Taliban should not be able to easily access the 10 billion euros in assets (roughly) held mostly abroad by the Afghan central bank.

The Taliban ordered the banks to reopen, but strict withdrawal limits were imposed.

With Reuters