{"id":5599,"date":"2015-02-19T11:56:44","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T09:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=5599"},"modified":"2015-02-19T11:58:15","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T09:58:15","slug":"afghanistans-team-of-rivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2015\/02\/afghanistans-team-of-rivals\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan’s Team of Rivals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Source: Aljazeera<\/a><\/p>\n

KABUL, Afghanistan \u2014 It was subtle, but telling: One of the immediate consequences of the new Afghan president taking office was that everyone around him turned into a note taker. Members of the powerful political elite, accustomed to 13 years of casual politics characterized by grand postures and long-winded speeches, all scribble in Ashraf Ghani\u2019s presence. Some, more traveled \u2014 such as the already-powerful national security adviser, his cane at his side \u2014 write in small, chic notebooks. Others \u2014 indolent bureaucrats, MPs with dark pasts, more used to the gun \u2014 are obvious amateurs: bulky notebooks, single sheets of white paper. In many of his first meetings with foreign dignitaries, Ghani himself took notes in his small, black, leather notepad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a meeting of five minutes with him, he gives you so many tasks \u2014 there is so much intensive content \u2014 that you need to write down,\u201d said Ajmal Obaid Abidy, the president\u2019s new spokesman and his close aide over two campaigns. \u201cAnd he follows up.\u201d<\/p>\n

One evening in January, members of the senate were due for dinner at the presidential palace. Plates of rice with carrots, raisins and pistachios were being rushed from the kitchen. \u201cOh, people, don\u2019t eat yet. The president hasn\u2019t arrived,\u201d a female senator shouted to colleagues around the table. Ghani, dressed in a dark-gray tunic and a striped-black turban, went around the room and shook hands with the more than 100 guests. As he reached the female senators, he waited for them to initiate the handshake or placed his hands on his chest in respect.<\/p>\n

As the plates were cleared, Ghani opened his notebook. He checked his watch and scribbled as the burly head of the Afghan senate began his remarks. The terms of some of the senators had concluded, he said, but they should continue to be provided two policemen apiece for security. Eight members of the senate had been killed over the preceding decade, and threats against the country\u2019s legislators had increased since Parliament\u00a0ratified the bilateral security pact<\/a>\u00a0in December, allowing U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan. The deputy speaker of the senate, to Ghani\u2019s left, occasionally peeked to see what the president was writing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks with the newly appointed foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani while walking from his Friday prayer to a lunch with guests.\u00a0(Click to enlarge images)<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A longtime academic known for his perfectionism, Ghani is trying to change Afghanistan\u2019s culture of kleptocratic government,\u00a0now bankrupt<\/a>\u00a0and its authority divided. A bitter election stalemate resulted in a power-sharing agreement in September in which Ghani became president and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, was given the newly established role of chief executive, which, within two years, will be turned into a prime-minister position. He was also awarded the authority to appoint half the government posts, which means the top positions effectively doubled in number. \u201cWe used to only worry about the president and his two VPs,\u201d said one Afghan intelligence official, who works for the directorate that provides security to the government\u2019s top cadre. \u201cNow there is the president, the CEO, the vice presidents, the deputy CEOs \u2026 How many total? Seven? Nine?\u201d<\/p>\n

From day one, the new president wanted to be hands-on, with an urgency that is part his personality and part a response to the grave problems facing the country. Corruption and patronage have become the norm. Economic growth has plummeted, with the government scrambling to attract more foreign aid to plug a budget deficit of an estimated $138 million. The Taliban insurgency, which has persisted over 13 years, threatens a bloody spring against the Afghan armed forces, which are on their own for the first time. \u201cWe are living in a house that is burning,\u201d Ghani said during an interview in January. \u201cEvery hour, some piece of the furniture is burning. So you have to put out fires. But simultaneously, we are building next door the foundation of a very solid structure and every day taking a step so that foundation is created.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon assuming office, Ghani promised his government would have a cabinet within 45 days and that he would personally put every nominee through a rigorous interview. (\u201cMy heart was trembling; it wasn\u2019t easy questions,\u201d Mohammad Yaqub Haidari, a nominee for agriculture minister, recalled of the interview. He was later dropped from consideration after it was discovered that he was on Interpol\u2019s most-wanted list.) Ghani also gave his new government as many days to solve the\u00a0Kabul Bank case<\/a>, in which a small group of politically connected individuals were accused of embezzling nearly $900 million of depositors\u2019 money. He was a man in overdrive: popping into a police station unannounced; checking in on the prisoners of the notorious central jail at night; asking about the state of the country\u2019s largest military hospital, where\u00a0soldiers have died of routine infections and starvation<\/a>. And, along the way, he has been\u00a0firing government workers left and right\u00a0<\/a>\u2014 without due process, many complain.<\/p>\n

Ghani displays no diplomacy in his dealings with subordinates, officials say. And he has begun doing away with discretion in public as well. During a meeting with local businessmen in western Herat province, he was informed that precious stones from Afghanistan were being smuggled into Iran. \u201cIf you sold them to Iran tomorrow and I didn\u2019t stop it, I would not be son of a human,\u201d Ghani screamed, pounding the table in front of him. (A video of his scream made it to the top of a\u00a0Facebook montage<\/a>titled \u201cAshraf Ghani\u2019s 20 Hard Screams.\u201d \u201cNot for those with heart problems,\u201d the disclaimer read.) \u201cYes, he might seem short-tempered at times,\u201d said one adviser. \u201cBut he has strategic patience. He doesn\u2019t make important decisions in a rush \u2014 he deliberates.\u201d Ghani seems oblivious to how he is perceived. \u201cI have become the most patient president that this country has witnessed,\u201d he said. \u201cThe problem of most leaders is that they command or bark before they understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cPresident Karzai had legendary patience, but I think I have surpassed him.\u201d<\/h3>\n

Read exclusive interviews with Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Slideshow: President Ghani’s Busy Schedule<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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