UK in Afghanistan
Kabul 18:00, 03 Jul 2011
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Political Parties in Afghanistan
After the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 a multi-party system began to emerge in Afghanistan. A number of former Jihadi groups underwent significant reform and developed into political parties participating in mainstream politics. New democratic parties have also begun to emerge.
In 2009, the development of political parties moved forward even further when a new political party law came into force. The new law outlined conditions for the registration of political parties: for example, parties now need to have at least 10,000 members, (previously they had only needed 700 members). At least 30 parties have now been registered and a number of other parties are still in the process of registering.
Political parties play a vital role in any democracy in encouraging political co-ordination and strengthening the accountability of government through organised and constructive opposition. The British Embassy in Kabul is committed to supporting the development of political parties, and regularly engages with individual members of political parties. The Embassy is also working to facilitate dialogue and an exchange of ideas between Afghan political parties and parties in the UK.
For full details on registered political parties, please see the Ministry of Justice website here. For more details on the leadership and ideology of political parties in Afghanistan, please see the National Democratic Institute’s website here.