Analysts say US losing hope over Taliban peace talks The presidential election is due to be held on Sept. 28. It has been delayed twice KABUL: Afghans deserve to have peace and presidential polls, the US special envoy to the country said on Saturday. Zalmay Khalilzad, who is the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, previously indicated that the election needed to be held after the successful conclusion of peace talks with the Taliban. But he said that preparations for the polls must go ahead even as he attempted to reach a negotiated political settlement with the militant group. “In recent days, a few commentators have raised questions about our priorities in #Afghanistan. A peace process that delivers a political settlement is the priority. Afghans want #peace above all,” Khalilzad tweeted. “But wanting peace does not preclude Afghans from demanding preparations for a credible presidential election. Election planning must go forward as we pursue the peace Afghans deserve.” Candidates standing against the incumbent Ashraf Ghani are concerned about the government’s ability to hold the polls, especially since the results of a parliamentary election in October were announced months later and there was no voting in one province due to it being under Taliban control. The presidential election is due to be held on Sept. 28. It has been delayed twice. US Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells said last week there needed to be free and timely presidential elections, while on Friday the US Ambassador to Afghanistan John R. Bass urged the election commission “to prepare for presidential elections quickly and efficiently.” Some analysts say the insistence on presidential elections, in particular from Khalilzad, show that the US is losing hope about a successful outcome with the Taliban. “The Americans have reached the conclusion that their talks with the Taliban will not quickly produce a result and that if elections cannot be held then that will show the total failure of the US in Afghanistan,” Waheed Mozhdah told Arab News. “So they now insist on holding the elections. But, from the other side, they want to pass on a message to the Taliban that we have returned to the past and now want elections and he (Khalilzad) wants to put pressure on the Taliban this way too.” He said the US-Taliban talks ended without success because Khalilzad wanted to keep some US troops in Afghanistan, while the Taliban was demanding a total withdrawal. Attiqullah Amarkhail, a retired general, said the US had become fed up with the lack of progress over the foreign troop issue. “So they (Americans) now want the elections so there is a government in place when they have lost hope in the talks with the Taliban,” he told Arab News. Mozhdah said he believed that elections would be held, but doubted they would lead to a more legitimate government.