Afghanistan

Afghanistan's recent history is a story of war and civil unrest. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979, but was forced to withdraw 10 years later by anti-Communist mujahidin forces. The Communist regime in Kabul collapsed in 1992. Fighting that subsequently erupted among the various mujahidin factions eventually helped to spawn the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that fought to end the warlordism and civil war that gripped the country.

The Taliban seized Kabul in 1996 and were able to capture most of the country outside of Northern Alliance strongholds primarily in the northeast. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US, Allied, and Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. In late 2001, a conference in Bonn, Germany, established a process for political reconstruction that ultimately resulted in the adoption of a new constitution and presidential election in 2004.

On 9 October 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan. The new Afghan government's next task is to hold National Assembly elections, tentatively scheduled for April 2005.

• nonfunctioning as of January 2004;
• government is empowered by the constitution to issue legislation by decree until the new assembly is seated;
• under the new constitution, the bicameral National Assembly will consist of the Wolesi Jirga or House of People (no more than 249 seats), directly elected for a five-year term, and the Meshrano Jirga or House of Elders (102 seats, one third elected from provincial councils for a four-year term, one third elected from local district councils for a three-year term, and one third presidential appointees for a five-year term; the presidential appointees will include two representatives of Kuchis and two representatives of the disabled; half of the presidential appointees will be women)

note: on rare occasions the government may convene the Loya Jirga on issues of independence, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity; it can amend the provisions of the constitution and prosecute the president;

it is made up of members of the National Assembly and chairpersons of the provincial and district councils

elections:

scheduled for spring 2005

• note - includes only political parties approved by the Ministry of Justice: Afghan Millat [Anwarul Haq AHADI];
• De Afghanistan De Solay Ghorzang Gond [Shahnawaz TANAI];
• De Afghanistan De Solay Mili Islami Gond [Shah Mahmood Polal ZAI];
• Harakat-e-Islami Afghanistan [Mohammad Asif MOHSINEE];
• Hezb-e-Aarman-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Iihaj Saraj-u-din ZAFAREE];
• Hezb-e-Aazadee Afghanistan [Abdul MALIK];
• Hezb-e-Adalat-e-Islami Afghanistan [Mohammad Kabeer MARZBAN];
• Hezb-e-Afghanistan-e-Wahid [Mohammad Wasil RAHEEMEE];
• Hezb-e-Afghan Watan Islami Gond [leader NA];
• Hezb-e-Congra-e-Mili Afghanistan [Latif PEDRAM];
• Hezb-e-Falah-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Mohammad ZAREEF];
• Hezb-e-Libral-e-Aazadee Khwa-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Ajmal SOHAIL];
• Hezb-e-Hambastagee Mili Jawanan-e-Afghanistan [Mohammad Jamil KARZAI];
• Hezb-e-Hamnbatagee-e-Afghanistan [Abdul Khaleq NEMAT];
• Hezb-e-Harakat-e-Mili Wahdat-e-Afghanistan [Mohammad Nadir AATASH];
• Hezb-e-Harak-e-Islami Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Ilhaj Said Hssain ANWARY];
• Hezb-e-Ifazat Az Uqoq-e-Bashar Wa Inkishaf-e-Afghanistan [Baryalai NASRATEE];
• Hezb-e-Istiqlal-e-Afghanistan [Dr. Gh. Farooq NIJZRABEE];
• Hezb-e-Jamhoree Khwahan [Sibghatullah SANJAR];
• Hezb-e-Kar Wa Tawsiha-e-Afghanistan [Zulfiar OMID];
• Hezb-e-Mili Afghanistan [Abdul Rasheed AARYAN];
• Hezb-e-Mili Wahdat-e-Aqwam-e-Islami Afghanistan [Mohammad Shah KHOGYANEE];
• Hezb-e-Nuhzhat-e-Mili Afghanistan [Ahmad Wali MASOUD];
• Hezb-e-Paiwand-e-Mili Afghanistan [Said Mansoor NADIRI];
• Hezb-e-Rastakhaiz-e-Islami Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Said ZAHIR];
• Hezb-e-Refah-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Mia Gul WASEEQ];
• Hezb-e-Risalat-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Noor Aqa ROEEN];
• Hezb-e-Sahadat-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Mohammad Zubair PAIROZ];
• Hezb-e-Sahadat-e-Mili Wa Islami Afghanistan [Mohammad Usman SALIGZADA];
• Hezb-e-Sulh-e-Mili Islami Aqwam-e-Afghanistan [Abdul Qahir SHARYATEE];
• Hezb-e-Sulh Wa Wahdat-e-Mili Afghanistan [Abdul Qadir IMAMEE];
• Hezb-e-Tafahum-e-Wa Democracy Afghanistan [Ahamad SHAHEEN];
• Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Afghanistan [Mohammad Karim KHALILI];
• Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Mardum-e-Afghanistan [Ustad Mohammad MOHAQQEQ];
• Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Mili Afghanistan [Abdul Rasheed Jalili];
• Jamahat-ul-Dahwat ilal Qurhan-wa-Sunat-ul-Afghanistan [Mawlawee Samiullah NAJEEBEE];
• Jombesh-e Milli [Abdul Rashid DOSTAM];
• Mahaz-e-Mili Islami Afghanistan [Said Ahmad GAILANEE];
• Majmah-e-Mili Fahaleen-e-Sulh-e-Afghanistan [Shams ul Haq Noor SHAMS];
• Nuhzat-e-Aazadee Wa democracy Afghanistan [Abdul Raqeeb Jawid KUHISTANEE];
• Nuhzat-e-Hambastagee Mili Afghanistan [Peer Said Ishaq GAILANEE];
• Sazman-e-Islami Afghanistan-e-Jawan [Siad Jawad HUSSAINEE];
• Tahreek Wahdat-e-Mili [Sultan Mahmood DHAZI] (30 Sep 2004)

Afghanistan's economic outlook has improved significantly since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 because of the infusion of over $2 billion in international assistance, recovery of the agricultural sector, and the reestablishment of market institutions. Agriculture boomed in 2003 with the end of a four-year drought, but drought conditions returned for the southern half of the country in 2004.

Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan remains extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, farming, and trade with neighboring countries. It will probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor aid and attention to raise Afghanistan's living standards up from its current status among the lowest in the world.

Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs, but the Afghan government and international donors remain committed to improving access to these basic necessities by prioritizing infrastructure development, education, housing development, jobs programs, and economic reform over the next year.

Growing political stability and continued international commitment to Afghan reconstruction create an optimistic outlook for maintaining improvements in the Afghan economy in 2005. Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade may account for one-third of GDP and looms as one of Kabul's most serious policy challenges.

general assessment:

very limited telephone and telegraph service

domestic:

telephone service improving with the establishment of two mobile phone operators by 2003; telephone main lines remain weak with only 0.1 line per 10 people

international:

country code - 93; five VSAT's installed in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar, and Jalalabad provide international and domestic voice and data connectivity