Afghanistan’s Governance

Part one

The Afghanistan government’s Organizational Structure and its terminologies translated and transliterated in Dari.

Note:  Constant changes are made over time in Afghanistan’s Government ((حکومت افغانستان). Therefore any outdated material should be updated regularly.

Afghanistan’s government structure consists of the Council of Ministers (Wazers وزیران ) and the National Assembly (loya Jirga لویه جرګه ), with a President (Raees e Jamhoorریس جمهور ) serving as the Chief of State and the Head of the Government.  The country is presently led by the administration of Karzai under President Hamid Karzai who is assisted by two vice presidents (Mawin e Raees e Jamhoor معاون ریس جمهور), Mohammad Fahim and Karim Khalili. Since 2001, the Government of Afghanistan has been influenced by NATO countries, especially by the United States.  In 2004, Afghanistan came up with a new constitution.  This new constitution gave the office of presidency the executive power.  In 2005, aparliamentary election took place in Afghanistan.  As a result, after 30 years of war, the people of Afghanistan elected a Parliament which consisted of two houses, the upper house ( Sana سنا  ) and lower house ( Shura شورا). 

In 2004, the current president Hamid Karzai was declared the first ever democratically elected head of state in Afghanistan.  Following his first term Mr. Karzai won a second five year term in 2009. Afghanistan has a bicameral National Assembly (Shura e Mili شورای ملی ) which is Afghanistan’s National legislature (Qowa e Muqaninah قوای مقننه ), consisting of the lower House (Shura or Wolosee Jirga شورا یا ولسی جرګه ) and the Upper House or the House of Elders (Sana سنا ).  The first legislative body was elected in 2005 and current one in 2010.

According to the new constitution of Afghanistan, an independent organization was created, the Supreme Court (Sterah Mahkama ستره محکمه ) of Afghanistan.  The seven members of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan were appointed and nominated by the president of the country.  The constitution also states that, “No law shall contravene the tenets and provisions of the holy religion of Islam in Afghanistan”.

Executive Branch: (Qowah e Ajrayah قوه اجرایه )

The President is the head of the executive branch.  The executive is the power to execute, enforce, and administer the law.  The constitution of Afghanistan creates a strong presidency.  Once the president is elected with two vice-presidents then the president appoints cabinet Ministers and Governors.

 1- First term (2004 election)

 2- Second term (2009 election)

Legislative branch: (Qowah e Muqaninahقوه مقننه )

Afghanistan follows the legislatives style of western democracies.  The Legislative is the power to make the  law and to enframe public policies. However, what is unique about the Afghan legislative is the Grand Assembly (Loyah Jirga لویه جرګه .)  This body only gets together when the country is at a stage of emergency (Esteraree اصطراری ) Members of the loya Jirga gets together in Kabul to decide, Afghan National Interests.  Once their task is accomplished, they dissolve their Meeting (Jirga جرګه), and then they go to their local districts for follow ups.  Members of the loya Jirga consists of tribal chiefs, notable religious and secular scholars. 

The 2005 parliamentary (Shura شورا ) election for the Lower House (Shura or Wolosee Jirga شورا) was conducted on September 18, 2005. “This was the first parliament election in Afghanistan since 1969.  Approximately 2,707 candidates, including 328 women, competed for 249 seats. The election was conducted with multiple seat electoral constituencies.  Each province is a constituency and has a varying number of seats depending on population. Voters have a single non-transferable vote”.  The House of the Elders or Upper House (Meshrano Jirga or Sana مشرانو جرګه یا سنا) consists of 102 seats.  34 members are elected to serve a 4 year term and 34 are elected to serve 3 year term by the regional legislatures.  The other 34 members are appointed by the President to serve 5 year term.

Judicial branch (Qowah e Qazayahقوه قضایی )

The constitution of Afghanistan mandates a Supreme Court (Stera Mahkamaستره محکمه ).  Like the Supreme Court of the United States, the seven members of justice of the Supreme court of Afghanistan, are nominated by the President of the country and after their vote of confidence by the two house of Parliament they become the permanent members of the supreme court of Afghanistan.  No one can remove them from their office before their term is expired.  The Main duty of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan is to interpret the constitution of Afghanistan and those areas where the laws are not clear.