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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?

Is there additional information?

Yes

Afghanistan

(Islamic Republic of Afghanistan)

Single/Lower house

Wolesi Jirga / House of the People

Total seats:249
Total women:69
% women: 28%
Election year:2010
Electoral system:SNTV
Quota type: Reserved seats
Election details: IDEA Voter Turnout
IPU Parline
Legal sourceDetails
Quota type:
Reserved seats		 ConstitutionAccording to the Constitution 2004, Article 83, Sixty-eight (68) seats in the lower house (Wolesi Jirga) are reserved for women i.e., at least two (2) women should be elected from each of the thirty-four (34) provinces of the country.
Electoral law The electoral commission will determine the number of the reserved seats for women in each of the 34 electoral constituencies (including the 10 seats for the nomads Kuchis) in order to fulfill the constitutional provision of the 68 reserved seats (Electoral Law, Article 20 and 23).
Legal sanctions for non-compliance: Electoral law "If there are not enough female candidates on the list to occupy the allocated seat, the Commission shall adopt measures to make sure the seats do not remain vacant." (Electoral Law, Article 23.)
Rank order/placement rules: Electoral law The female candidates who receive the most votes in each electoral constituency shall be assigned with the reserved seats decided for the constituency. After meeting the quota requirements, the remaining seats (if any) in a constituency shall be assigned to candidates according to the rules of the electoral system (SNTV) regardless of their sex, (Electoral Law 2010, Article 23).

Sources | Additional information | Contact us

Last updated 2011-03-22

Upper house

Meshrano Jirga / House of Elders

Total seats: 102
Total women:28
% women: 27%
Election year:2011
Electoral system:Indirectly elected / appointed
Quota type: Reserved seats
Election details: IPU Parline
Legal sourceDetails
Quota type:
Reserved seats
 Constitution According to the Constitution 2004, Article 84, two thirds of the total number of the members of the upper house (Meshrano Jirga) is indirectly elected and one third is appointed by the president of the country. Fifty percent (50%) of the individuals appointed by the president must be 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 2011-03-21

Quota at the Sub-National Level

Quota type:Reserved seats
Legal sourceDetails
Quota type:
Reserved seats
 Electoral law One-fourth of the seats in each provincial council shall be allocated to the most voted female candidates. The remainder of the seats shall be allocated to the candidates who receive the highest number of votes regardless of gender (Electoral Law, Article 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 2013-03-21

Additional information

On 22 January 2011, President Karzai appointed 34 members including 17 women to the House of Elders. As at 1 March 2011, there were 28 women among the full 102 members.

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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 2011-04-29

Sources

Electoral Law 2010 (Unofficially translated by UNAMA and edited by IFES)

Constitution, amended 2004

JEMB Final Report, National Assembly and Provincial Council Elections 2005

Seats Allocation for Wolesi Jirga (provided by Independent Elections Commission)

 http://www.iec.org.af/2012-06-30-11-03-03/seat-allocations  

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