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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Davey and Campbell quiz Miliband on Afghanistan
December 5, 2009 11:05 AM
• [Dec 1] Edward Davey (Kingston & Surbiton, Liberal Democrat): ' . . IS it also envisaged that the new governors will ever acquire any political legitimacy of their own, other than being appointees of President Karzai?'
The Prime Minister talked yesterday about political reforms to produce governors appointed on merit and free from corruption. Is it envisaged that the process to achieve that will involve removing existing governors, and is it also envisaged that the new governors will ever acquire any political legitimacy of their own, other than being appointees of President Karzai?
David Miliband (Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office; South Shields, Labour): In my experience of travelling to Afghanistan and talking to people there and of studying the situation in that country, the credibility of the governors at provincial and district level comes from the work they do and the way they do it. Those governors who have shown themselves to be dedicated to the interests of the people of their province have won widespread support, significantly through community councils, but also through other ways of engaging with the local population. In this case, therefore, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The governors who perform well, gain confidence; those who turn out to be placemen, or to be in it for their own interests, quickly lose the confidence of both Afghans and the international community.
Edward Davey (Kingston & Surbiton, Liberal Democrat): I hope some of the governors currently in post will be removed during that political reform process, but how does the Foreign Secretary see the much needed process of reconciliation and reintegration working at district and local level? Will it be organised by these new governors, and will the ISAF coalition fund such Afghan-led reconciliation work at the local level?
David Miliband (Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office; South Shields, Labour): The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. We talk about reintegration at local level. Reintegration is for the middle and high-level commanders, and at the local level it will need to be Afghan-led and internationally supported. There will be different ways of arranging it in different parts of the country-sometimes at district level, at other times, where a larger reintegration needs to be achieved, at provincial level. One important point worth making to the House is that the reintegration effort only succeeds when the other side of the coin is a military and security effort, first because those in the insurgency need to know the risk that is carried by continuing the insurgency, but also because they need to know they will be properly protected if they come within the constitutional set-up.
• . . Menzies Campbell (Fife North East, Liberal Democrat): If, by the time that the conference is held, it has become clear that President Karzai is unwilling, or unable, to fulfil his obligations, will the conference be able to accept and embrace a provincial, rather than a national strategy to prevent President Karzai from being an obstacle to progress?
David Miliband (Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office; South Shields, Labour): Since the Prime Minister's statement at the Dispatch Box in December 2007, the importance of the local governance agenda in Afghanistan-not just at the provincial level, through the 34 provinces, but at the district level, through the 394 districts-has been at the centre of the Government's work.
I am sure that the right hon. and learned Gentleman knows that Afghanistan is a country of some 40,000 villages and has rarely been governed from Kabul; it has been governed by local tribal structures. That is why it has been at the heart of the endeavours of the Government and the international community to ensure that, as well as forging the appropriate partnership in Kabul, we strengthen, wherever possible, local governance-that means provincial and district governance-and that remains our commitment.
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