The House of Representatives of the People, or Da Afghanistan Wolesi Jirga ( ps, دَ افغانستان ولسي جرګه), was the
lower house of the
bicameral National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
of the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, alongside the upper
House of Elders.
The House of Representatives of the People was the chamber that bore the greater burden of lawmaking in the country, as with the House of Commons in the Westminster model. It consisted of 250 delegates directly elected by
single non-transferable vote. Members were elected by district and served for five years. The constitution guaranteed at least 68 delegates to be female.
Kuchi
Kochis or Kuchis (Pashto: کوچۍ Kuchis) are pastoral nomads belonging primarily to the Ghilji Pashtuns. In the southern, western and northern regions of Afghanistan they are also referred to at times as maldar (Pashto: مالدار maldar, ...
nomads elect 10 representatives through a Single National Constituency.
The House of Representatives of the People had the primary responsibility for making and ratifying laws and approving the actions of the president. The first elections in decades were held in September 2005, four years after the fall of the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
regime, still under international (mainly UN and NATO) supervision.
The
2010 Wolesi Jirga election was held on 18 September 2010
and the
2018 Wolesi Jirga election was held on 20 October 2018 after almost three years of delay The new Parliament was later inaugurated on 26 April 2019.
It was effectively dissolved when the
Taliban seized power on 15 August 2021. The Taliban did not include the House of the People and several other agencies of the former government in its first national budget in May 2022. Government spokesman Innamullah Samangani said that due to the financial crisis, only active agencies were included in the budget, and the excluded ones had been dissolved, but noted they could be brought back "if needed".
Elections
Elections were last held on 20 October 2018. Originally, they had been scheduled for 15 October 2016, but were initially postponed to 7 July 2018, and then again to 20 October. The last Parliament was later sworn in by Afghanistan President
Ashraf Ghani
Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban.
Born in ...
on 26 April 2019.
The last Parliament was also Afghanistan 17th Parliament.
The same day final results from four Afghanistan provinces revealed, among other things, that House of the People former speaker
Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi of Kunduz had been re-elected to the House of the People as well.
Chairpersons of the Administrative Boards
Chairpersons of the Administrative Boards of the Wolesi Jirga since establishment of Parliamentary institutions in 1931.
Representation
See also
*
National Assembly of Afghanistan
The National Assembly ( ps, , Mili Shura, prs, , Shura-e Milli), also known as the Parliament of Afghanistan or simply as the Afghan Parliament, was the legislature of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. It was effectively dissolved when the ...
*
House of Elders
*
Politics of Afghanistan
*
List of legislatures by country
This is a list of legislatures by country. A "legislature" is the generic name for the national parliaments and congresses that act as a plenary general assembly of representatives and that have the power to legislate. All entities included i ...
References
External links
Official website(archived 16 August 2021)
{{DEFAULTSORT:House Of The People (Afghanistan)
National Assembly (Afghanistan)
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
1931 establishments in Afghanistan
2005 establishments in Afghanistan