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Constitutional Assembly elections were held in Afghanistan in 1964. The Assembly produced the 1964 constitution, which introduced women's suffrage.
In March 1963 King Mohammed Zahir Shah asked Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan to resign due to the Pashtunistan dispute, which strained Afghanistan–Pakistan relations. [1] Two weeks later, Zahir Shah appointed a commission to write a new constitution. [2]
The new constitution barred members of the royal family (with the exception of the monarch) from involvement in politics, a clause that was viewed as aiming to bar Daoud Khan from returning to office. [2] It provided for a bicameral parliament, introducing women's suffrage and giving women the right to stand for office. An independent judiciary was introduced, with sharia law was to be used where no government law existed. [2]
After the constitution was drafted, it was reviewed by a 29-member committee, whose members included Kubra Noorzai and Masuma Esmati-Wardak. [3]
In order to approve the constitution, Zahir Shah convened a loya jirga in the spring of 1964. The 452-member body included the 14 members of the cabinet, the 176 members of the National Assembly, the 19 members of the Senate, the five Supreme Court justices, 176 elected members, 34 members appointed by the king, seven members of the constitutional committee and 24 members of the commission that had produced the draft (three attendees were members of more than one category). [4]
When convened, the loya jirga included ten women, [4] including Roqia Abubakr. [5] One of them gave birth during its deliberations. [6]
The document was signed by all 452 members on 20 September. It was promulgated on 30 September after being signed by the king. [2] The first parliamentary elections under the new constitution were held in August–September 1965 and saw two women elected to the House of the People. [7]
Mohammad Zahir Shah was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan since the foundation of the Durrani Empire in the 18th century. He expanded Afghanistan's diplomatic relations with many countries, including with both sides of the Cold War. In the 1950s, Zahir Shah began modernizing the country, culminating in the creation of a new constitution and a constitutional monarchy system. Demonstrating nonpartisanship, his long reign was marked by peace in the country which was lost afterwards with the onset of the Afghanistan conflict.
Mohammad Daoud Khan, also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan, was an Afghan statesman who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup d'état which overthrew the monarchy, served as the first president of Afghanistan from 1973 to 1978.
The Afghan Constitution Commission was established October 5, 2002 as required by the Bonn Agreement, which stipulated that a new Afghan constitution be adopted by a loya jirga. The loya jirga was required to convene within eighteen months of the establishment of Afghan Transitional Administration, which was established by the Emergency Loya Jirga in June 2002. After some delay, the proposed Afghan Constitution was presented to President Hamid Karzai on November 3, 2003. A loya jirga began December 14, 2003 in Kabul and was endorsed January 4, 2004.
The 2004 Constitution of Afghanistan was the supreme law of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which lasted from 2004-21. It served as the legal framework between the Afghan government and the Afghan citizens. Although Afghanistan was made a state in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, the earliest Afghan constitutional movement began during the reign of Emir Abdur Rahman Khan in the 1890s followed by the drafting in 1922 of a constitution. The 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan transformed Afghanistan into a modern democracy.
A 502-delegate loya jirga convened in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 14, 2003, to consider the proposed Afghan Constitution. Originally planned to last ten days, the assembly did not endorse the charter until January 4, 2004. As has been generally the case with these assemblies, the endorsement came by way of consensus rather than a vote. Afghanistan's last constitution was drafted for the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in November 1987.
A jirga is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic groups who are influenced by them in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Though Afghanistan has had democratic elections throughout the 20th century, the electoral institutions have varied as changes in the political regime have disrupted political continuity. Elections were last held under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which was deposed by the Taliban in August 2021. The Taliban dissolved the Elections Commission in December 2021. In May 2022, when asked if the Taliban would hold elections, First Deputy Leader Sirajuddin Haqqani said the question was "premature".
The Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA), also known as the Afghan Transitional Authority, was the name of a temporary administration of Afghanistan put in place by the loya jirga of June 2002. It succeeded the original Islamic State of Afghanistan and preceded the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021).
Mohammadzai, also spelled Moḥammadzay, is a Pashtun sub-tribe or clan of the Barakzai which is part of the Durrani confederacy of tribes. They are primarily centered on Kandahar, Kabul and Ghazni in Afghanistan. The Mohammadzai ruled Afghanistan from 1823 to 1978, for a total of 155 years. The monarchy ended under Mohammad Zahir Shah when his brother in law Sardar Daoud Khan took power via a coup.
Sardar Abdullah Khan Tarzi was a twentieth century Afghan Statesman from Kandahar province in Afghanistan. As a country "elder," he participated in the national Loya Jirga, specifically the one in 1964 that was called by Mohammed Zahir Shah, which acted as a constitutional convention. In and out of office, he was always a key decision maker, as he was a tribal and Pashtun leader in southern Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 1964 in Afghanistan.
The Barakzai dynasty also known as the Muhmmadzai Dynasty ruled modern day Afghanistan from 1823 to 1978 when the monarchy ended de jure under Musahiban Mohammed Zahir Shah and de facto under his cousin Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan. The Barakzai dynasty was established by Dost Mohammad Khan after the Durrani dynasty of Ahmad Shah Durrani was removed from power.
The Republic of Afghanistan was the first republic in Afghanistan. It is often called the Daoud Republic, as it was established in July 1973 after General Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan deposed his cousin, King Mohammad Zahir Shah, in a coup d'état. General Daoud was known for his autocracy and attempts to modernize the country with help from both the Soviet Union and the United States, among others.
An emergency loya jirga was held in Kabul, Afghanistan between 11 and 19 June 2002 to elect a transitional administration. The loya jirga was called for by the Bonn Agreement and Bush administration. The agreement was drawn up in December 2001 in Germany. Conducted under United Nations auspices, the talks at Bonn sought a solution to the problem of government in Afghanistan after the US ousted the Taliban government.
Afghan leaders who met at the December 2001 Bonn Conference which picked Hamid Karzai to lead the Afghan Transitional Authority also agreed that a Constitutional Loya Jirga should be convened to draft a new constitution.
The 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan was the constitution of Afghanistan from 1964 to 1973, when it was annulled following a coup d'état though parts of the constitution were restored by future governments from 2002 to 2004 and from 2021 to 2022. It was drafted by a committee of foreign-educated Afghans, including Sardar Abdul Hakim Ziai and Sardar Abdul Rahim Ziai, appointed for the task by the Afghan King, Mohammed Zahir Shah. The primary goals of the Constitution were to prepare the government and the people for gradual movement toward democracy and socioeconomic modernization. A Loya jirga had debated, modified and approved its innovations, which included a bill of rights for all Afghans, explicitly including women. After public review, the constitution was put into effect in October 1964.
Zalmai Rassoul is an Afghan politician who served as Foreign Minister of Afghanistan from January 2010 to October 2013. He previously served as National Security Advisor from June 2002 to January 2010. Through his various roles in Government, Rassoul played a key role in building the Afghan security architecture, uniting the international community in support of an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process, strengthening regional cooperation and security through the establishment of the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan and the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process, and rebuilding vital industries. He stood as a candidate in the 2014 presidential election.
The 1973 Afghan coup d'état, also called by Afghans as the Coup of 26 Saratan and self-proclaimed as the Revolution of 26 Saratan 1352, was led by Army General and prince Mohammed Daoud Khan against his cousin, King Mohammed Zahir Shah, on 17 July 1973, which resulted in the establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan under a one-party system led by Daoud Khan.
Kubra Noorzai (1932–1986) was an Afghan politician. She was the first woman to become a government minister in the country, serving as Minister of Public Health between 1965 and 1969.
Constitutional Assembly elections were held in Afghanistan in January 1977. The Constitutional Assembly was called to produce a new constitution four years after the coup that saw Mohammed Daoud Khan overthrow his cousin, King Mohammed Zahir Shah. The Assembly was part-elected and part-appointed.