House of the People (Afghanistan)

As Wolesi Jirga (also Wolesi Jirga, Pashto: ولسي جرګه ) refers to the lower house of Afghan bicameral Parliament. Wolesi Jirga means translates as " House of the People ".

Composition

The Wolesi Jirga consists of 249 seats, of which 68 are women and 10 must be occupied by the nomadic Kuchi minority. Deputies are directly elected, each province is entitled to a certain number of deputies. A special feature of the Wolesi Jirga elections is that no parties are allowed, so there's only independent MPs.

History

From December 14th 2003 to January 4th, 2004 was held in Kabul, the Constituent Grand Council ( Loya Jirga ). The constitution adopted by it provides for a directly elected by popular president who is both head of state and head of government. The Afghan Parliament ( Shuraye Melli ) was divided into two chambers: Wolesi Jirga and the Meshrano Jirga ( the Upper House ). On 18 September 2005, the first elections were held for the Wolesi Jirga. The elections were marred by attacks on the candidates, which at least seven politicians were killed. Although the turnout was to be desired, the elections were internationally regarded as a success. The second elections for the Wolesi Jirga took place on 20 August 2009 and resulted due to massive election fraud to a crisis of legitimacy of the government.

Documents

• Marion Preyer: opportunities and obstacles of democratization - The case of Afghanistan. Grin, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3640294862