The development of mature political parties in Afghanistan did not occur until the 1960s. Strong ties and allegiances to tribal, regionalkin, religious, or ethnic identitiesgroups that precluded membership in political parties. In addition, the lack of class awareness, and the very small size of the intelligentsia limited the formation of political parties. There were political societies as early as 1911, including the Young Afghan Party centered on the personality of Mahmud Tarzi, and his weekly journal Siraj al-Akhbar and, in 1947, the Awakened Youth (Wish Zalmayan in Pakhtun) was formed in Kandahar by members of the Pakhtun upper class.

Political parties arose in earnest during the constitutional reforms that began under the King Zahir Shah (1933-1973) in 1963, and especially with the liberalization of the press laws in 1964. By the mid 1970s three types of political parties had emerged, each representing sentiments of a relatively small educated class. One type was based on the European socialist-nationalist model. Afghanistan had had a warm relationship with Germany, in part because of Afghanistan's long and vitriolic relationship with Britain, and in part because many Afghans believe that they are the true Aryans.

Many members of Afghanistan's upper class had been trained in Germany and spoke German. This included the Jam’iat-e Social Demokrat (the Social Democratic Society), usually called Afghan Millat (Afghan Nation), led by Ghulum Mohammad Farhad. This strong Pakhtun-oriented party led to several spin-offs, including the Millat (Nation). The other major party of this type was the Jam’iat Demokrate-ye Mottaraqi (Progressive Democratic Party), founded by the popular prime minister Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal (1965-1967). It advocated evolutionary socialism and parliamentary democracy.

By 1973 these parties had ceased to play a major role in Afghans politics, even though remnants exist todayed., largely because political forces from the right and left forced out the parties of the middle.

Leftist parties also arose in the mid-1960s. They include the People's Democratic Party Of Afghanistan (PDPA), founded in 1965 by Babrak Karmal, Hafizullah Amin, and Mohammad Taraki. It was pro-Soviet and had a Marxist-Leninist ideology. In 1967, this party split into two factions, the Khalq (People’s) faction, led by Taraki and Amin, and the Parcham (Banner), led by Karmal. In April 1978, the factions temporarily united and the PDPA led a successful coup. This party ruled Afghanistan until 1992.

Other parties on the left included the Setem-e Melli (National Oppression), led by Taher Badakhshi, a party with Marxist-Leninist orientation and strongly anti-Pakhtun. Sholay-e Jawid (Eternal Flame), another popular Marxist party, was led by Dr. Rahim Mahmudi. Both were popular among minorities (non-Pakhtun), especially among the Shi’ah, and the ethnic groups in northern Afghanistan. The leftist parties dominated campus politics at Kabul University and were influential in the Daoud government that took over Afghanistan in 1973.

The Islamic parties also appeared in Afghanistan in the late 1960s, partly as a reaction to the increased secularization of Afghan societyparties and the growing friendship with the Soviet Union. Islam had played an important role in national politics in earlier periods, often as a means of mobilizing national sentiment against an outside force, usually the British.

These Islamic parties were of two types: those of the traditional ulama, or religious scholars, and those hostile to the ulama and advocating a new and more radical Islam. The new and more radical parties spring up on the campus of Kabul University. A number of professors had studied at al-Azhar University in Cairo, and had established contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin).

They brought theis Islamic fundamentalist message back to Afghanistan. In 1970 they established the Javanan-e Muslimin (Islamic Youth) movement on campus; that year the party won the student elections ending several years of leftist control of student government. In 1971 the movement formed a party called Jami'at-e-Islami (Islamic Society), led by Burhanuddin Rabbani and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf., which was the main party of the new Islamic thinkers.

In 1973 Daoud Khan took over Afghanistan in a political coup, ending the democratic experiment. He incorporated many of the leftist parties into his government. The Islamic parties were forced underground or into exile. Rabbani and Sayyaf fled to Peshawar, Pakistan, and began an armed insurrection against the government in Kabul. By 1980 this movement had split into four parties including the original Jamiat. These were , counting Jam'iat, there were four parties; the three others were Hezb-e-Islami (Islamic Party), led by Golbuddin Hekmatyar; another Hezb-e Islami, led by Mohammad Unis Khalis, and Ittihad-e Islami (Islamic Union), led by Sayyaf. Each of these leaders had been allied with Jamiat at one time. These political groups were more regional militias than political parties.

The traditional clergy also fled to Pakistan, in the late 1970’s and formed resistance parties to fight against the Marxist government in Kabul and, after 1980, the Soviet Union. These parties included Harakat-e Inqilab-e Islami (Islamic Revolutionary Movement), led by Maulawi Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi; Jebhe-ye Nejat Milli (National Liberation Front), led by Sufi Pir Sebghatullah Mujaddedi; and Mahaz-e Islami (Islamic Front) led by Sufi Pir Sayyid Ahmad Gailani.

These seven parties formed a loose coalition in Peshawar, Pakistan during the 1980s to coordinate their war efforts and to attempt to form an Afghan government in exile. In February 1989 they formed an Afghan Interim Government (AIG) in Pakistan and elected Mujaddedi president. Very soon, however, conflicts arose, and the Hezb-e Islami led by Hekmatyar withdrew from the AIG.

Other religious parties were excluded from the AIG. These were primarily the Shi’a parties. Shi’a make up between 15 and 20 percent of the population of Afghanistan and are mostly Hazara. They have several political parties, most with ties to Iran. The first Shi’a parties, founded in 1979, were the Shura-ye Ittifagh-e Islami (Islamic Council), led by Sayyed Beheshti, and the Harakat-e Islami (Islamic Union), led by Shaykh Asaf Mohseni. The Shura was formed as a quasi government of the Hazarajat, and in the early 1980s it operated as such.

However, by the mid-1980s the Shi'a areas of Afghanistan, primarily the Hazarajat, were taken over by Iranian-based parties, especially the Nasr (Victory) and the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards). These parties, imbued with Islamic fervor resulting from the Iranian Revolution, ruthlessly pushed out the more moderate Shi'a parties. In the late 1980s, these parties united into a political front called the Wahadat (Unity), which represents most of the Shi'a parties and is led by Khalili.

In 1992, the Islamic political parties returned to Kabul to form a government. By late 1993, however, any unity that might have existed among them had disappeared, and there was bitter fighting between rival Islamic parties in Kabul and other major cities for the control of Afghanistan.

In the chaos created by the inability of these parties to form a cohesive government after 1992 a new political party began to emerge called the Taliban, a Persianized Arabic word meaning religious students. The Taliban movement arose among the Afghan refugee population living in Pakistan in the early 1990’s with support from Pakistan.

The Taliban preached a puritanical form of Islam that combined Wahabi style Islamic practices with strict tribal customs regarding the proper role of women and public behavior in general. The Taliban found most of its followers among the Southern Pushtun tribes in the Kandahar area. The Taliban seized control of Kandahar in 1994, and although they opposed at first by most non-Pushtun groups, they were able to exert their control over most of Afghanistan by 1998. The leader of the Taliban government was Mullah Omar.

In the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. began a military campaign to drive out the Taliban. By December of 2001 the Taliban had been driven from power and on December 21, 2001 a new government took power in Kabul led by Hamid Karzai. The government was originally formed as an interim government at a conference in Bonn in November 2001, and was reaffirmed, albeit in a somewhat different form, by a national council, Loya Jerga, held in Kabul in July of 2002. This new Afghan government is composed of several political parties, which can be divided into three major groups; the Northern Alliance, the Rome Group, and the Peshawar Parties. The Northern Alliance holds the majority of the important cabinet positions in the interim government, except for the presidency.

The North Alliance includes the Jamiat-i-Islami, a predominantly ethnic Tajik groups officially led by former president Burhanuddin Rabbani; the Shura-i-Nizar, composed of Panjshiri Tajiks who were followers of the late Ahmad Shah Masoud; Jambish-i-Melli, a predominantly ethnic Uzbek militia lead by General Rashid Dostum; and Hezb-i-Wahadat, a predominantly Hazara militia led by Mohammad Karim Khalili. The Rome Group is composed primarily of followers of the King who was in exile in Rome. The Peshawar parties consist of those resistance groups that fought against the Soviet occupation in the 1980’s out of the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

With the promise of national elections in 2004 the outline of a new political party structure is beginning to emerge. While many of the older parties that had been organized largely as military militias are attempting to reinvent themselves as electoral parties, new parties are emerging to vie for seats in the new parliament. These parties include the National Council of Peace and Democracy of Afghanistan composed of students, university professors, liberal republicans and NGO workers; and the Nizat-i-Milli, formed by Younus Qanooni, the former interior minister and Wali Masood, the brother of the assassinated leader Ahmad Shah Masood. No doubt other parties will emerge in the political environment of the new Afghanistan.

Political parties in Afghanistan are in flux and many prominent players have plans to create new parties; the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA) is headed by President Hamid Karzai; the TISA is a coalition government formed of leaders from across the Afghan political spectrum; there are also several political factions not holding positions in the Transitional government that are forming new groups and parties in the hopes of participating in the 2004 elections.

Social Nationalist Afghan Party

The Social Nationalist is a new political party of Afghanistan. The introduction would like to acknowledge what this new political party is. How would it change the ways of Afghanistan, concerning the economies, culture and religion and the viewpoints on the politics of today.

Economically the country of Afghanistan is in a state of destruction and war, the country of Afghanistan is the poorest nation on this earth, and the people are dying of diseases and starvation in the country of Afghanistan. What the Social Nationalist Party wants to do is make Afghanistan a more modern nation. Meaning, to end the economics problems in the country of Afghanistan. To have free trades with other nation so that it would serve our citizens of the country.

Culture In the views of the Party. The culture of Afghanistan is the most precious part of the Afghan ways. The culture of Afghanistan would never be changed. , If we loose our culture we loose our selves in the mist of darkness and destruction. The people of Afghanistan do not wish to loose their culture and it would not do.

Afghan Social Democratic Party (Afghan Mellat)

Official Website

Head: Dr. Anwar Ahady

Status: Active, Ahady is currently head of Afghanistan's central back in Karzai's transitional administration. The party officially registered themselves in Afghanistan on May 16, 2004.

Islamic Movement (Harakat-i-Islami)

Head:
Mohammed Asif Mohseni

Status:
Somewhat active

Islamic Revolutionary Movement (Harakat-Inqilab-i-Islami)

Head:
Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi

Status:
No data

Islamic Party (Hizbi Islami-Gulbuddin)

Head:
Gulbuddin Hikmatyar

Status:
Active, currently believed to be in alliance with al Qaeda and the Taliban against Karzai's government and the United States.

Islamic Party (Hizbi Islami-Khalis)

Head:
Yunis Khalis

Status:
No data

Islamic Unity Party (Hizbi Wahdat-Khalili faction)

Head:
Abdul Karim Khalili

Status:
Active. The group's most prominent member (Haji Mohaqiq) is currently running against Hamid Karzai in the upcoming Presidential elections.

Islamic Unity Party (Hizbi Wahdat-Akbari faction)

Official Website

Head:
Mohammad Akbar Akbari

Status:
Somewhat active

Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan (Ittihad-i-Islami Barai Azadi Afghanistan)

Head:
Abdul Rasul Sayaf

Status:
Little data on current party activity, however, Sayaf is currently in alliance with Jamiat-i-Islami

Afghanistan National Liberation Front (Jabha-i-Najat-i-Milli Afghanistan)

Head:
Sibghatullah Mojadedi

Status:
No data

Islamic Society (Jamiat-i-Islami)

Head:
Burhanuddin Rabbani (Other prominent members: Ismael Khan (Governor of Herat), General Atta Mohammad (Governor or Balkh), and Abdul Hafiz Mansoor)

Status:
Active, has proposed no candidate so far for the upcoming elections.

 

National Congress PartyIslamic Society (Jamiat-i-Islami)

Head:
Mohammad Latif Pedram

Status:
Active, Pedram has announced that he will be a candidate in the upcoming elections.

National Islamic Movement (Jumbesh-i-Milli Islami)

Website

Head:
Abdul Rashid Dostum

Status:
Active, Dostum recently announced that he will be a candidate in the upcoming elections.

National Islamic Front (Mahaz-i-Milli-Islami)

Head:
Sayed Ahmad Gailani

Status:
Active

National Movement of Afghanistan

Head:
Unknown, however, The Washington Post reported on July 29, 2004 that the party consists of various United Front veterans, including the Shura-i-Nazar faction. Members might include Dr. A Abdullah, Yunus Qanooni, and Mohammad Fahim.

Status:
Active. Qanooni has recently announced that he will run against Karzai in the upcoming Presidential elections.

Taliban

Head:
Mullah Mohammad Omar (Other prominent members: Jalaluddin Haqqani, Saifullah Mansoor)

Status:
Active, waging a war against the US backed transitional government headed by Hamid Karzai.

Liberal Demokratic Party of Afghanistan

Official Website

 

Women's Alliance for Peace and Human Rights in Afghanistan (WAPHA)

Official Website

In September 1996, life for women living in Afghanistan came to a virtual halt when the Taliban militia took over the Afghan capital of Kabul. For five years their plight remained largely ignored by the international community. This blind eye to the Taliban atrocities and general state of affairs within Afghanistan created an environment that allowed the Al-Qeada organization to plan the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. In October 2001, the Taliban were pushed out of their position of power by Afghan opposition forces aided by the United States. Now Afghanistan must try to rebuild after 22 years of war and instability.

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