In Tallinn, on Tuesday morning, the Afghani president Hamid Karzai promised to remain in his homeland after the second term in office expires in 2014, and not to intervene overly in his successor’s work.
Karzai to Postimees: a happy ex-president, I’ll remain in homeland
2nd May 2013, 11:50
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What were your initial thoughts after being appointed, at the end of 2001, as head of the interim government? How much has happened as you hoped it would?
During the Bonn conference [in December 2001] I was in a village, in Central Afghanistan. Receiving a phone call from Bonn and hearing that the conference was considering my nomination, I was very surprised. This was not at all in my plans, I didn’t even expect to survive.
When I was proclaimed President… It was a strange day. Only 20 minutes prior to that, a US plane accidentally bombed our headquarters. There were very many dead bodies around us, and wounded, and I myself was wounded, when a friend called from BBC and told me I had been elected President.
My first thoughts were about the wellbeing of Afghanistan, about a peaceful and stable country, free from violence. Partly, this has been achieved. Not the second part – security. I hope we will reach it.
Your term as President is coming to its end. In hindsight, is there anything you would have done otherwise? Anything you regret?
I believe I have done everything that I considered right. I would still be against civilian casualties. I am for human rights in Afghanistan. I’m continuing very straightforward, open and public relations with USA. I would still call the Afghans belonging to the Taliban my brothers. I’m criticizing the places where I see injustice towards Afghanistan and I recognise and value when Afghanistan is being supported.
Based on experience obtained by now, I would, maybe, make a different constitution.
A lot is being said about your personal future, what will become of you after the elections next year…
I’ll remain in the country. The government is already building me a house, pursuant to the Afghani constitution. Thus, a happy ex-president, I will remain in Afghanistan. A very happy one.
The greater part of your life, however, you have been very active politically, even risked your life. Do you really believe that, after your second term expires, you will be able to simply draw aside, take time off?
This is a very important question. When I served as President, at difficult moments, when I took important decisions, decisions about the United States and on how they behaved under the aegis of war on terror, in Afghanistan, the issue of civilian casualties, when it came to the issue of unnecessary operations in Afghanistan which did not concern terrorist strongholds located in Pakistan, there were maybe one or two Afghani political leaders who supported me. As President, I felt very lonely indeed.
When I’m no longer President and the next Afghani president takes the national issues in support of the alliance with the West or is he has to oppose such activities by the West, I will stand behind him and will strongly and politically support him. I will not be an intervening ex-president, not at all, that’s not good for the country. But I may be an adviser, if my advice is needed.
You mentioned that, with security, things are not the way you wish them to be. When would come the time that an Estonian could take his family and walk the streets of Kabul, not fearing for their security?
As soon as the peace process is completed, the Taliban returned to Afghanistan, and Pakistan and Afghanistan have better relations. And this is not far away, anymore. Even now, already, you may peacefully travel, with your families, to very many parts of Afghanistan.