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Parliamentary elections were held in Afghanistan between August 29 and September 11 1969. They were the second elections after the introduction of the 1964 constitution, with 2,030 candidates standing for the 216 seats of the House of the People [1] and for one-third of the House of Elders. The single-member plurality electoral system was used. [2]
Many conservative local landowners who had shunned the previous elections in 1965 and 1967 campaigned for office and won seats. Since political parties were not legalized in time for the elections, most of the candidates were men of local prominence, chosen for their personal prestige rather than their political views. [3]
Whilst four PDPA members had been elected in the 1965 election, in 1969 only 2 were elected; Babrak Karmal in Kabul, and Hafizullah Amin in Paghman. The Parcham faction of the PDPA, favoured by Karmal, was particularly disappointed with the result, being supportive of gradual moves towards socialism. In the face of the results Parcham resumed their alliance with "progressive" elements in the Afghan ruling elite. Amin had been the only member of the Khalq faction elected to parliament, and his election increased his standing within the group, which opposed the kind of broad collaboration advocated by Parcham. [4]
Islamic revolutionary groups only began formally organizing after the election, and had no representation in the parliament. The parliament did, however, contain an Islamic conservative bloc. [4]
Other than the dominance of conservative landowners and businessmen, the election also saw the parliament become more ethnically representative, with a far greater number of non-Pashtuns being elected. The election also saw a decline of liberal voices, with most urban liberals losing their seats, and all female delegates losing their seats. Other than Karmal and Amin, there were few leftists in the new parliament, with Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal, the former Prime Minister and a vocal democratic-socialist, losing his seat as a result of government interference.[ citation needed ]
The Kabul Times reported that turnout was 60% of registered, though with only 16.6% of the country as registered voters.; [5] Nur Ahmad Etemadi became the new Prime Minister.
Whilst somewhat more reflective of Afghanistan as a whole, the new parliament was plagued by lethargy and deadlock, with only 1 minor bill being passed in the 1969/1970 session. Amid growing polarisation in politics, the King came under increasing criticism (although he maintained his personal popularity) over his political decisions, such as not putting forward his own Prime Ministerial candidate, and from withholding consent from legislation such as the political parties bill.[ citation needed ]
Some critics focused not on the King, but other members of the royal family, particularly General Sardar Shah Wali Khan, the Kings cousin; son-in-law; and a prominent military figure. Wali was particularly hated by Afghan leftists for having ordered Afghan troops to fire on demonstrations in October 1965. Other major issues involved the governments poor response to the 1972 famine, which had left up to 100,000 Afghans dead. Simultaneously, there was increasing public dissent over the lack of stable governance, with Afghanistan having had 5 Prime Ministers since 1963.[ citation needed ]
Amid this atmosphere of instability and dissent Mohammed Daoud Khan launched the 1973 coup d'état, ending the Afghan monarchy.[ citation needed ]
Babrak Karmal was an Afghan communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Afghanistan, serving in the post of general secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1986.
Hafizullah Amin was an Afghan communist head of state, who served from September 1979 until his assassination. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and co-founded the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), ruling Afghanistan as General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), renamed the Republic of Afghanistan in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. It relied heavily on assistance from the Soviet Union for most of its existence, especially during the Soviet–Afghan War.
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afghan parliamentary election, reduced to two seats in 1969, albeit both before parties were fully legal. For most of its existence, the party was split between the hardline Khalq and moderate Parcham factions, each of which claimed to represent the "true" PDPA.
Nur Muhammad Taraki was an Afghan revolutionary communist politician, journalist and writer. He was a founding member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) who served as its General Secretary from 1965 to 1979 and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council from 1978 to 1979.
Sultan Ali Keshtmand, sometimes transliterated Kishtmand, was an Afghan politician. He served twice as Chairman of the Council of Ministers during the 1980s, from 1981 to 1988 and from 1989 to 1990 in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
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". and from now to date 2023 sat 16 december 2023 afghanistan is ruled by taliban and have some redevelopment in recent days
Khalq was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical de facto leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) and Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy (1979–1990). It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by the same movement. The Khalq wing was formed in 1967 after the split of the party due to bitter resentment with the rival Parcham faction which had a differing revolutionary strategy.
The Politburo of the Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan or Afghan Politburo was the policy-making organ and institution within the Afghanistan's political structure when the PDPA Central Committee and the PDPA Congress were not in session. Only one politburos was formally elected; at the 1st Congress, despite this, the membership line-up was altered numerous times during the PDPA's existence.
Sulaiman Layeq was an Afghan politician, ideologue and poet who held the positions of President of the Academy of Sciences, full member of the Afghan Politburo, and Minister of Nationalities and Tribal Affairs.
Colonel General Abdul Kadir Dagarwal was an Afghan politician, diplomat, and a military officer in the Afghan Air Force who participated in the coup d'état that created the Republic of Afghanistan under the President Dawood Khan, and later directed the Afghan Air Force and Army Air Corps squadrons that attacked the Radio-TV station during the Saur Revolution.
The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution, also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was staged on 27–28 April 1978 by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and overthrew Afghan president Mohammed Daoud Khan, who had himself taken power in the 1973 Afghan coup d'état and established an autocratic one-party system in the country. Daoud and most of his family were executed at the Arg in the capital city of Kabul by PDPA-affiliated military officers, after which his supporters were also purged and killed. The successful PDPA uprising resulted in the creation of a socialist Afghan government that was closely aligned with the Soviet Union, with Nur Muhammad Taraki serving as the PDPA's General Secretary of the Revolutionary Council. Saur or Sowr is the Dari-language name for the second month of the Solar Hijri calendar, during which the events took place.
The following lists events that happened during 1978 in Afghanistan.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was the government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. It was recognised diplomatically by only eight countries which were allies of the Soviet Union. It was ideologically close to and economically and militarily dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War.
Ghulam Dastagir Panjsheri was an Afghan communist politician and public servant. Panjsheri was usually identified as a Khalq by fellow Afghan politicians, while outside observers said he was creating his own PDPA group under the name Gruhi Kar.
Mir Akbar Khyber was an Afghan left-wing intellectual and a leader of the Parcham faction of People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). His assassination by an unidentified person or people led to the overthrow of Mohammed Daoud Khan's republic, and to the advent of a socialist regime in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
The Revolutionary Council of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ruled the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1978 until its collapse in 1992. The council was the supreme state power under the communist regime and was a carbon copy of the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union. The point with the council was to convene on a semiannual basis to approve decisions made by the presidium.
Anahita Ratebzad was an Afghan socialist and Marxist-Leninist politician and a member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and the Revolutionary Council under the leadership of Babrak Karmal. One of the first women elected to the Afghan parliament, Ratebzad was deputy head of state from 1980 to 1986.
Parliamentary elections were held in Afghanistan in August and September 1965. Members of the Senate were elected between 26 August and 7 September, and members of the House of the People elected between 10 and 26 September. Following the introduction of women's suffrage in the 1964 constitution, four women were elected to the House of People and two became members of the Senate.
Faiz Muhammad was a prominent Afghan statesman and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, being a former ambassador to Indonesia and Iraq. He was also head of the Operation Department of the 444th Commando Battalion, Minister of the Interior of Afghanistan and Minister of Border Affairs of Afghanistan.
