The Watan Party of Afghanistan () is a

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

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 ...

. The party describes itself as "national and democratic, progressive and reformist".

History

The party was founded in exile during the time of the

Taliban regime The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and informally known as the Taliban government, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is ...

on 28 June 1997 in

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, and has members inside the country where it is not officially registered. It considers itself a continuation of the leftist ideas of

Mohammad Najibullah Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996) was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the second president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen' ...

and his Watan Party, which was established in 1990 as the successor to the ruling

People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), known as the Homeland Party ( Dari: , ) from June 1990, was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 ...

(PDPA). The Munich conference elected Muhammad Isa Jassur as the leader of the party. The party held its second congress in

Frankfurt/Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in 2000. On 28 July 2017, thousands attended an event at a

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

hotel for the fourth "consultative gathering for a legal relaunch of Watan Party". In the past, the party has attempted to register under the PDPA name, but has been refused registration.

Ideology

The party does not identify with either the

Khalq Khalq (Dari/, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by ...

Parcham Parcham (Pashto/ Dari: پرچم, ) was the more moderate socialist faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) led by Afghan communist politician Babrak Karmal. It was later turned into the Watan (Homeland) Party with a mor ...

(which they call " Karmalist"). The Party has described itself as "national and democratic, progressive and reformist" and is against foreign interference in Afghanistan, particularly from the Pakistanis.

References

1997 establishments in Afghanistan Democratic socialist parties in Asia Exile organizations Left-wing nationalist parties Nationalist parties in Asia People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan Political parties established in 1997 Political parties in Afghanistan Progressive parties Secularism in Afghanistan Secularist organizations Social democratic parties in Asia Socialist organizations Socialist parties in Afghanistan {{Afghanistan-party-stub

History

Ideology

See also

References