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In recent years the politics of Afghanistan have been dominated by the 2001 Invasion Of Afghanistan by the NATO Forces and the subsequent efforts to stabilise and Democratise the country. As Of 2006 the system of government in Afghanistan is in transition. A new Constitution has been adopted, and an executive president Democratically Elected , and Parliament ary Election s took place in September 2005. The current president Hamid Karzai became the first ever democratically elected Head Of State in Afghanistan in late 2004. He now has begun the process of reconstruction. Still, the country lacks a Legislature . Elections for this branch of government were supposed to have finished by mid 2005. The members of the Supreme Court were appointed recently by the President to form the Judiciary . Together, this new system will provide a new set of Checks And Balances that was unheard of in the country. Also, the system is quite new, implementation of which began only 2004, just after decades of war between different factions and warlords. The remnants of the warlords are almost non-existent. The United Nations and other governments and organizations play a vital role rebuilding this new democracy's political environment. BACKGROUND Politics in Afghanistan has historically consisted of power struggles, bloody Coups and unstable transfers of power. With the exception of a Military Junta , the country has been governed by every system of government over the past century, including a Monarchy , Republic , Capitalism , Theocracy , Dictatorship , Socialism and a Communist State . The constitution ratified by the 2003 Loya Jirga restructured the government as an Islamic Republic consisting of three branches of power ( Executive , Legislative , and Judiciary ) overseen by checks and balances. Afghanistan is currently led by President Hamid Karzai , who was elected in October 2004. Before the election, Karzai led the country after being chosen by delegates of the Bonn Conference in 2001 to head an interim government after the fall of the Taliban. While supporters have praised Karzai's efforts to promote national reconciliation and a growing economy, critics charge him with failing to reign in the country's warlords, inability to stem corruption and the growing drug trade, and the slow pace of reconstruction. The current Parliament was elected in 2005. Among the elected officials were former mujahadeen, Taliban fighters, communists, Reformists , and Islamic Fundamentalists . Surprisingly, 28% of the delegates elected were women, 3% more than the 25% minimum guaranteed under the constitution. Ironically, this made Afghanistan, long known under the Taliban for its oppression of women, one of the leading countries in terms of female representation. The Supreme Court Of Afghanistan is currently led by Chief Justice Faisal Ahmad Shinwari . Dominated by fundamentalist religious figures, it has banned Cable Television , tried to ban a candidate in the 2004 presidential election for questioning Polygamy laws, and limited the rights of women, as well as overstepped its constitutional authority by issuing rulings on subjects not yet brought before the court. Though many believed that Karzai would make reforming the Supreme Court a priority of his administration, as of 2006 he has yet to do so. See Also: Constitution of Afghanistan The Former Taliban Regime On September 27 1996 , the ruling members of the Afghan Government were displaced by members of the Islamic Taliban movement. The Taliban declared themselves the legitimate government of Afghanistan; however, the UN continued to recognize the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani . The Organization of the Islamic Conference left the Afghan seat vacant until the question of legitimacy could be resolved through negotiations among the warring factions. By the time of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11 Terrorist Attacks only Pakistan recognized the Taliban government, though Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had in the past. The Taliban occupied 95% of the territory, called the Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan . The remaining 5% belonged to the rebel forces constituting the Islamic Republic Of Afghanistan , which the United Nations had recognized as the official government in exile. U.S.-led Invasion After the Taliban's refusal to hand over Osama Bin Laden to the US for his suspected involvement in the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, a US-led international coalition was formed; after several weeks of aerial bombardment by coalition forces and military action on the ground, including Afghan opposition forces, the Taliban was officially ousted from power on 17 November 2001 . Bonn Agreement See Also: Bonn Agreement (Afghanistan) In December 2001, a number of prominent Afghans met under UN auspices in Bonn, Germany, to decide on a plan for governing the country; as a result, the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) - made up of 30 members, headed by a chairman - was inaugurated on 22 December 2001 with a six-month mandate to be followed by a two-year Transitional Authority (TA), after which elections are to be held. Some provisions in the agreement have expired, due to the creation of the constitution. Still, the agreement paved the way for the creation of a democratic Afghanistan. Approval by the Loya Jirga The structure of the Transitional Authority was announced on 10 June 2002 , when the Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) convened establishing the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA), which had 18 months to hold a Constitutional Loya Jirga to adopt a constitution and 24 months to hold nationwide elections. The Loya jirga was replaced by the National Assembly. Recent developments Under the Bonn Agreement the Afghan Constitution Commission was established to consult with the public and formulate a draft constitution. The meeting of a constitutional ''loya jirga'' was held in December 2003, when a new constitution was adopted creating a presidential form of government with a bicameral legislature. Troops and Intelligence Agencies from the United States and a number of other countries are present, some to support the government, others assigned to hunt for remnants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda . A United Nations military force called the International Security Assistance Force has been operating in Kabul since December 2001. NATO took control of this Force on August 11 , 2003 . Some of the country remains under the control of warlords. New Statesman - Warlords' threat to secede - Shiv Malik - February 7, 2005 On March 27 , 2003 , Afghan deputy defense minister and powerful warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum created an office for the North Zone Of Afghanistan and appointed officials to it, defying then-interim president Hamid Karzai 's orders that there be no zones in Afghanistan. Eurocorps took over the responsibility for the NATO-led ISAF in Kabul August 9 , 2004 . . It was the country's first national election since 1969, when parliamentary elections were last held. On September 18 2005 , Parliamentary Elections were held; the Parliament opened on the following December 19 . On December 20 Karzai's close ally and president of the first Mujahideen government, Sibghatullah Mojadeddi , was picked to head the 102-seat upper house. On December 21 , Yunus Qanuni , Afghan opposition leader and Karzai's main opponent was chosen to lead the 249-seat lower house of parliament with 122 votes against 117 for his closest challenger. CONSTITUTION The Bonn Agreement called for a ''loya jirga'' to be convened. This body ratified the Constitution Of Afghanistan in early 2004. It creates a strong Presidency and a bicameral legislative branch. EXECUTIVE BRANCH | ||
| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Hamid_Karzai" class="copylinks">Hamid Karzai |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Vice_President_of_Afghanistan" class="copylinks">Vice President |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Ahmad_Zia_Massoud" class="copylinks">Ahmad Zia Massoud |
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| Second | "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Vice_President_of_Afghanistan" class="copylinks">Vice President |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Karim_Khalili" class="copylinks">Karim Khalili |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Hedayat_Amin_Arsala" class="copylinks">Hedayat Amin Arsala |
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| Dr | "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Rangin_Dadfar_Spanta" class="copylinks">Rangin Dadfar Spanta |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Afghan_Ministry_of_Defense" class="copylinks">Defence Minister |
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| General | "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Abdurrahim_Wardak" class="copylinks">Abdurrahim Wardak |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Zarar_Ahmad_Moqbel" class="copylinks">Zarar Ahmad Moqbel |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Haji_Mohammad_Mohaqiq" class="copylinks">Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq |
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| Professor | "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Anwar-ul-Haq_Ahadi" class="copylinks">Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Habibullah_Qader" class="copylinks">Habibullah Qader |
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| Sheikh | "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Faisal_Ahmad_Shinwari" class="copylinks">Faisal Ahmad Shinwari |
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