Fauzia Gailani was elected to represent

Herat Province Herat ( Dari: هرات) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the western part of the country. Together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the north-western region of Afghanistan. Its primary city a ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

's Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of its National Legislature, in 2005.

She won almost 16,885 votes, more than any other candidate in

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

. Prior to her election Fauzia, a mother of six, had established a chain of fitness centers. She belongs to the Gailani ethnic

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

family of Afghanistan. Fauzia has spoken out against violence against women, and has spoken out against forced marriages for girls. She herself was forced to marry, at thirteen years of age. She was widely quoted following the murder of Nadia Anjuman, a young Afghan poet whose husband was arrested for her death after admitting hitting her following an argument. The

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

described Fauzia as one of the independent representatives whose support the

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...

administration was struggling to win.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gailani, Fauzia 1971 births Living people Afghan businesspeople 21st-century Afghan women politicians 21st-century Afghan politicians Politicians of Herat Province Members of the House of the People (Afghanistan) Pashtun politicians Pashtun women