See also special areas

At a glance

Structure of Parliament: Bicameral

Are there legislated quotas...

  • Yes for the Single/Lower House?
  • Yes for the Upper House?
  • Yes at the Sub-national level?

Are there voluntary quotas...

  • No adopted by political parties?

Afghanistan

(Islamic Republic of Afghanistan)

Single/Lower house

Wolesi Jirga / House of Representatives

Total seats:249
Total women:68
% women: 27%
Election year:2005
Electoral system:SNTV
Quota type: Reserved seats
Election details: IDEA Voter Turnout
IPU Parline
Legal sourceDetails
Quota type:
Reserved seats		 ConstitutionThe Wolesi Jirga should have no more than 250 members, and be proportional to the population of each of the provinces, and contain, on average, two women from each province (Constitution, Article 83).
Electoral law The number of seats from each province and the number of female seats from each province is decided by the Independent Electoral Commission, although no province shall have less than two seats and the female seats shall be at least twice the number of provinces. (Election Law, Article 20 & 22). Currently this means 65 out of the 239 to be distributed ? 27 % (Independent Elections Commission).
Legal sanctions for non-compliance: Electoral law If not there are enough women to take the reserved seats, they shall remain empty until next election (Election Law, Article 22).
Rank order/placement rules: N/A The most voted female candidates in each constituency shall be awarded seats (Election Law, Article 22 [2]).

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Last updated 2009-11-20

Upper house

Meshrano Jirga / House of Elders

Total seats: 102
Total women:23
% women: 23%
Election year:2005
Electoral system:Indirectly elected / appointed
Quota type: Reserved seats
Election details: IPU Parline
Legal sourceDetails
Quota type:
Reserved seats
 Constitution The Meshrano Jirga consists of 1/3 representatives from provincial, 1/3 district councils and 1/3 presidential appointees. The presidential appointees should be from experts and experienced persons and 50 percent of them should be women. (Constitution, Article 84). Thus, around 17 percent of the seats in the Meshrano Jirga are reserved for women.
Legal sanctions for non-compliance: N/A No data available
Rank order/placement rules: N/A No data available

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Last updated 2009-11-20

Quota at the Sub-National Level

Quota type:Reserved seats
Legal sourceDetails
Quota type:
Reserved seats
 Constitution One quarter of the seats in each provincial council shall be reserved for female candidates. The provisional councils range from 9 to 29 members and women can make up more than the reserved quarter (Electoral Law, Articles 28-29).
Legal sanctions for non-compliance: No data available No data available
Rank order/placement rules: No data available No data available

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Last updated 2009-11-20

Additional information

In the 2005 elections, the voters got to vote for individual candidates, sometimes on candidate lists including 400 names. The Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB), the UN-Afghan co-managed body that managed those elections, decided the order of candidates on electoral lists by a ballot lottery, so that the sequencing would not be biased toward any candidate, and that every elected representative got elected by virtue of number of votes and not placement on party list (see JEMB Final Report, p. 12).

Last updated 2009-11-20

Sources

Additional reading

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