Starting Point

Already during the Taliban-regime – then undercover - and even stronger after its end in 2001 a wide range of new political parties were established in Afghanistan. At the same time the three historic political movements - Islamists, Leftists, and ethnic Nationalists – continued or resumed their activities, partly with old structures and partly with new ones. In September 2003, after years of delay by the presidency, this development was answered by a new law about political parties. It demands all parties which were established before the law came into force to register at the Ministry of Justice. Almost 90 parties registered till today, among them all important Madjahedin organizations, although they had shown resistance in the beginning of the registration process. For the Parliamentary elections in 2005 – the first (almost) free elections after 35 years - the election law from May 2004 established through the Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) a system focusing on individual candidates and effectively expelling political parties.
The Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) which was promoted by the presidency, too, leads to a fragmented parliament. The Afghan parliament is constituted by 249 single members not by political factions. The president enforces the constitution of so called parliamentarian groups to compensate this problem. According to the latest findings these groups will reproduce existing organizational and ethnic cleavages. The electoral law, therefore, can be seen as a further setback for the development of the young party system in Afghanistan. The SNTV-System is criticized by many sides. It is to complicated, does not match for Afghanistan and it distorts the electorate’s intentions, these are arguments against the SNTV-System expressed by the important election observer organization (FEFA) as well as by the majority of international election observers (among them the EU, OSZE, ANFREL). The observers proposed to change the electoral system until the next parliamentary election in 2010.

Aims of the workshop

The workshop wants to contribute to this discussion. First initiatives of political parties shall be taken up and be supported. Therefore, the workshops will strike an interim balance of the development of political parties since the fall of the Taliban, the passing of the new law about political parties and the first parliamentary elections. For that purpose Members of Parliament who are party members as well as non-partisan Members of Parliament shall be invited, additionally party leaders and an Afghan and a German expert for each session.

Furthermore, the workshop wants to discuss and work out general expectations and strategies for the future political process and for the further development of the party system and the electoral system in the country. The results of the workshop will slip in an essay about the current party system in the Afghanistan.

Agenda of the workshop

The workshop will last two days and consist of two morning and two afternoon sessions. Each session will deal with a main topic starting with a ten minute keynote presentation by three participants. The topics shall be dealt with from the point of view of the presenting parties. Afterwards a discussion about their theses will follow.

Session1: The party system since the fall of the Taliban

Which role do parties play in the Afghan society? - Does Afghanistan need political parties? - How representative and democratic are the Afghan parties? - What about the inner structures of the parties? - Why do so few women actively take part in politics?

Session 2: The Parliament – how representative is it?

Is the 2005 elected parliament expressing the voter’s intentions? – Which first experiences did the parties made with parliamentary work? –How successful is the system of two chambers?

Session 3: How did the SNTV influence the elections and the constitution of the parliament?

Did the electoral system of SNTV influence the parliamentary elections of 2005? – Would your party have gained a different result with another voting system? – How did the electoral system influence the candidates lists and the electoral campaigns? - Presidential or parliamentary system?

Session 4: Perspectives for political parties in Afghanistan

Pluralism of parties and/or “national unity”? – Political parties, parliamentary groups or single delegates? – Is there a strategy for a possible reform of the electoral system and the electoral law?