Elections in Afghanistan

This article gives information on elections in Afghanistan.

Though Afghanistan has had democratic elections throughout the 20th century, the election institutions have varied as changes in regimes have disrupted political continuity. Presidential elections in 2009 raised doubts about the legitimacy and power of the current electoral system, established in the 2003 constitution, in both the national political environment and the international community.

In 1949, Afghan Prime Minister Shah Mahmud allowed relatively free national assembly elections, and the resulting seventh Afghan Parliament (1949–1951), which has become known as the "Liberal Parliament", gave voice to criticism of the government and traditional institutions, allowed opposition political groups to come to life, and enacted some liberal reforms, including laws providing for a free press. This being the seventh parliament, six must have been elected from 1923 to around 1944.

The Afghan parliamentary election in 1952 was considered a step backward from the one in 1949. As part of the government crackdown in 1951 and 1952 ending liberalization, the Kabul University student union had been dissolved in 1951, newspapers critical of the government had been shut down, and many of the leaders of the opposition had been jailed.

In 1964, King Mohammed Zahir Shah ordered the convening of a Loya jirga - a national gathering that included the members of the National Assembly, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and both constitutional commissions - to draft and approve a new Afghan constitution. 167 members of the assembly were elected by the provinces, and 34 members were appointed directly by the king. Although most of the 452 people (including six women) assembled were predominantly officials who could be expected to support the royal line, the Loya Jirga of September 1964 also included members elected from the entire nation. While the government did screen out many potential dissidents, "on the whole ... delegates to the Loya Jirgah appeared to represent the full range of social, political, and religious opinion."

Most observers described the 1965 election as remarkably fair despite difficulties such as widespread illiteracy, low voter turnout, lack of political parties, and attempts by some government officials to influence the results. The 216-member Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament, included representation by anti-royalists, supporters of the king, Pashtun nationalists, both the left and right of the political spectrum, entrepreneurs and industrialists, political liberals, a small leftist group, as well as conservative Muslim leaders who still opposed secularization. This was Afghanistan's 12th parliament, so there must have been three more National Assembly elections in 1955-62.

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