After two months of delay, the draft of a new Constitution for Afghanistan was unveiled on November 3. It will be discussed at a Constitutional Loya Jirga (December 10). The draft envisages a centralized state system with a strong President able to appoint and dismiss the cabinet and appoint judges and senior military commanders. The President will be elected in direct balloting for a five-year term. The draft also calls for a two House legislature viz., the House of the People and House of Elders. The President appoints one-third of the Upper House members, and half of his appointees must be women.

"Loya jirga" is a Pashto phrase meaning "grand council." For centuries, leaders in Afghanistan have convened loya jirgas to choose new kings, adopt constitutions, and decide important political matters and disputes. Loya jirgas have traditionally been made up of tribal leaders and other elders - almost all men - sent to Kabul by local shuras (village-level councils). This quasi-democratic process has been relatively representative of Afghanistan's population: in the past loya jirgas have involved representatives from almost all of Afghanistan's major ethnic and religious groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara, Turkmen, Baluch, Farsiwan, and Nuristani; as well as Sunni, Shi'a, Hindu, and Sikh. Women, however, have been largely absent from loya jirgas, except for those convened in 1964 and 1977. In 1964, four women were appointed to the advisory constitutional drafting committee, and in 1977 women constituted 15 percent of the members of the loya jirga. Even then, participation was limited to educated, urban women.

The current loya jirga process was set in motion by the Bonn Agreement of December 5, 2001, which created an interim administration in Afghanistan and a timetable for setting up a future, elected government. The agreement said that within six months of the assumption of office by the Interim Administration (December 22, 2001), an emergency loya jirga would be convened to appoint a transitional administration, which would in turn lead Afghanistan for up to two years, until a "fully representative government can be elected through free and fair elections."

A Special Independent Commission for the Convening of the Loya Jirga ("loya jirga commission"), required by the Bonn Agreement, was appointed in January. Its task was to establish rules and procedures for the loya jirga, define a process for the selection of delegates, and ensure the adequate representation of women, minorities, scholars, and representatives of civil society groups. The commission released a set of rules and procedures in late March. An information dissemination campaign has commenced, and the selection process began in mid-April. The loya jirga itself is set to meet in early June.

On 10 June 2002, the structure of the second Transitional Authority (TA) was announced when an Emergency Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) convened establishing the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA); subsequently, a Constitutional Loya Jirga was held and adopted a new constitution; under the new constitution the president is both the chief of state and head of government; the president and two vice presidents are elected by direct vote for a five-year term; if no candidate receives 50% or more of the vote in the first round of voting, the two candidates with the most votes will participate in a second round; a president can only be elected for two terms; former King ZAHIR Shah holds the honorific, "Father of the Country," and presides symbolically over certain occasions, but lacks any governing authority; the honorific is not hereditary.

Chief of state:
President of the TISA, Hamid KARZAI (since 10 June 2002); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President of the TISA, Hamid KARZAI (since 10 June 2002); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government.

Cabinet:
The 30-member TISA; note - under the new constitution, ministers are appointed by the president and approved by the National Assembly.

Elections:
Nationwide elections are to be held by June 2004, according to the Bonn Agreement.

Under the new constitution, the bicameral National Assembly consists of the Wolesi Jirga or House of People (no more than 250 seats), directly elected for a five-year term, and the Meshrano Jirga or House of Elders (composed of one representative from each provincial council, one representative from each district council, and a number of presidential appointees; the presidential appointees will include two representatives of Kuchis and two representatives of the disabled; half of the presidential appointees will be women); the Bonn Agreement lays down a June 2004 deadline for elections for the first session of the National Assembly.

on rare occasions the government may convene the Loya Jirga on issues of independence, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity; it can amend the provisions of the constitution and prosecute the president; it is made up of members of the National Assembly and chairpersons of the provincial and district councils.

The new constitution establishes a nine-member Stera Mahkama or Supreme Court (its nine justices are appointed for 10-year terms by the president with approval of the Wolesi Jirga) and subordinate High Courts and Appeals Courts; there is also a Minister of Justice; a separate Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission established by the Bonn Agreement is charged with investigating human rights abuses and war crimes.

The Constitution of Afghanistan

Preamble

We the people of Afghanistan

• With firm faith in God Almighty and relying on His mercy, and Believing in the Sacred religion of Islam,
• Observing the United Nations Charter and respecting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
• Realizing the injustice and shortcomings of the past and the numerous troubles
  imposed on our country,
• While acknowledging the sacrifices and the historic struggles, rightful Jehad and resistance of the Nation, and respecting the high position of the martyrs for the freedom of Afghanistan,
• Understanding the fact that Afghanistan is a single and united country and
  belongs to all ethnicities residing in this country,
• For consolidating national unity and safeguarding the independence, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the country,
• For establishing a government based on the people's will and democracy,
• For the creation of a civil society free of oppression, atrocity, discrimination, and violence and based on the rule of law, social justice, protection of human rights, and dignity, and ensuring the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people,
• For strengthening political, social, economic, and defensive institutions of the country,
• For ensuring a prosperous life and sound environment for all those residing in this land,
• And finally for regaining Afghanistan’s deserved place in the international community,

Have adopted this constitution in compliance with historical, cultural, and social requirements of the era, through our elected representatives in the Loya Jirga dated /1382 in the city of Kabul.

Text of Constitution

Currently, Afghanistan is being run by a United States backed, transitional government headed by President Hamid Karzai. Presidential elections are expected to be held on October 9, 2004; so far the date has been pushed back twice. With help from the United States and the United Nations, Afghanistan adopted its new constitution, establishing the country as an Islamic Republic, in early January 2004.

The soon-to-be Afghan government will consist of a powerful and popularly elected President, two Vice Presidents, and a National Assembly consisting of two Houses: the House of People (Wolesi Jirga), and the House of Elders (Meshrano Jirga). There will also be an independent Judiciary branch consisting of the Supreme Court (Stera Mahkama), High Courts and Appeal Courts. The President will appoint the members of the Supreme Court with the approval of the Wolesi Jirga.

The Taliban (1) led by Mullah Mohammad Omar and the Al Qaeda Network, headed by Osama bin Laden, have been removed from power. These groups formerly controlled most of Afghanistan. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda were defeated by the forces of UNIFSA (2), backed by United States’ air bombing campaigns. The US got directly involved in Afghanistan to seek revenge for the death of thousands of Americans killed when a few airplanes were hijacked, two of them were flown into the World Trade Center in New York, and the other plane crashed in an open field in Pennsylvania after the flight members tried to subdue the hijackers.

The US holds Osama bin Laden directly responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center, and the Taliban were targeted for protecting him. Even though they have been removed from power, they are still present in small pockets, particularly in the eastern and southern regions of Afghanistan. News reports are claiming that these scattered Taliban have now supposedly teamed up with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, head of Hezbi Islami. It is not certain to what degree these groups are cooperating with one another, however, all three clearly want the United States, and International Peacekeepers to leave Afghanistan. It is also clear that they want the transitional government led by President Karzai to step down. The Taliban-Al Qaeda-Hekmatyar alliance has resorted to suicide bombings, and deadly attacks on innocent aid workers to get their message across.

Pakistan, who supported the Taliban regime militarily and financially, made a drastic policy change and cooperated with the United States in going after Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Despite this, Pakistan, led by General Musharaf, still tried to influence the future stability of the Afghan government by attempting to secretly sabotage the talks in Bonn by flaring up ethnic issues. Many observers and analysts believe that the Pakistani government wanted to use the Taliban to restore the so-called "sanctity of the Durand Line", which separates Afghanistan and Pakistan (3). Pakistan's objective was to rule Afghanistan by proxy, hence giving them a strategic depth against their South Asian rival India.

(1) The word Taliban is the Persianized plural of the Arabic word, Talib, meaning student. Mullah Omar heads the movement.

(2) United National and Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (UNIFSA). The movement was composed of various political parties brought together in their common struggle against Taliban rule in Afghanistan. It primarily consisted of Jamiat-e Islami, Hezbe-e Wahdat, Harakat-i-Islami, Haji Qadeer's eastern Shura, and Ittihad-i-Islami Barai Azadi Afghanistan. In the western media, it is incorrectly referred to as the Northern Alliance.

(3) The Durand line is an unofficial porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 1893, the British and the Afghan Amir (Abdur Rahman Khan) agreed to set up the Durand line (named after the foreign Secretary of the Indian government, Sir Mortimer Durand) to divide Afghanistan and what was then British India. Many experts believe that the Afghan Amir regarded the Durand Line as only a separation of areas of political responsibility, not permanent international borders. The agreement was only for 100 years and it expired in 1993. Moreover as early as 1949, Afghanistan's Loya Jirga declared the Durand Line invalid.