Wolesi Jirga

House of the People
ولسي جرګه
wolasi jirga
bicameral
Type
Type Lower house of the national assembly
Leadership
president Abdul rouf Ibrahimi, independent
Since 2010
first deputy speaker Mirwais Yasini, independent
Since 2010
chairman saeed akram
Seats 250 members
Meeting place
Kabol
Website
Template:Politics sidebar title
Template:Politics sidebar below

The House of the People or Wolesi Jirga (Pashto: ولسي جرګه‎), abbreviated WJ, is the lower house of the bicameral National Assembly of Afghanistan, alongside the House of Elders.

The House of the People is the chamber that bears the greater burden of law making in the country, as with the House of Commons in the Westminster model. It consists of 249 delegates directly elected by single non-transferable vote (SNTV).[1] Members are elected by district and serve for five years. The constitution guarantees at least 64 delegates to be female. Kuchi nomads elect 10 representatives through a Single National Constituency.

The House of the People has the primary responsibility for making and ratifying laws and approving the actions of the president. The first elections in decades were held only in September 2005, four years after the fall of the Muslim fundamentalist Taliban regime, still under international (mainly UN and NATO) supervision.

The 2010 Wolesi Jirga elections were held on September 18, 2010.[2][3] Final, certified results are expected on October 31, 2010.[4]

Members of Parliament from the 2005 elections

Some members of the Wolesi Jirga's 2005 election were:

Name Role Constituency Notes
Mohammad Younis Qanooni Speaker Kabul Province
Mirwais Yasini First Deputy Speaker Nangarhar Province
  • Candidate for President during the 2009 Afghan Presidential elections.[6][7]
Mohammad Arif Noorzai First deputy speaker Kandahar Province
  • He was a deputy speaker.[8]
  • He is related to President Hamid Karzai through marriage.[8]
Burhanuddin Rabbani Badakshan Province
Pacha Khan Zadran Paktia Province
Hazrat Ali Nangarhar Province
  • A prominent anti-Taliban figure, who fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda during the resistance period in Afghanistan.
Malalai Joya Farah Province
  • women's rights campaigner, nicked "the bravest woman in Afghanistan."[11][12]
Sayed Mohmood Hasamuddeen Al-Gailani Ghazni Province
  • He is a grandson of Pir Gailani, a prominent Sufi, and leader of an Afghan political party.[13]
Ali Akbar Qasimi Ghazni Province
  • He is a General in the Afghan National Army, and was a former commander of the 14th Division, which was garrisoned in Ghazni.[13]
Mohammad Daud Sultanzoy Ghazni Province
  • Sultanzoy, prior to his election, was a pilot for United Airlines.[13]
Niyaz Mohammad Amiri Ghazni Province
  • His brother, Shah Mohammad, and his cousin Hajji Fazell, are Governors of two of Ghazni's districts.[13]
Rahila Bibi Kobra Alamshahi Ghazni Province
  • She is a teacher and journalist.[13]
Zahera Ahmadyar Mawlayee Ghazni Province
  • She was formerly the head of the Ghazni women's shura.[13] She was a University Physics and Math instructor at a
Shah Gul Rezai Ghazni Province
  • She was a teacher from the Jaghoray district, prior to her election.[13]
Abdul Qayyum Sajjadi Ghazni Province
  • He was the editor of a science journal prior to taking office.[13]
Khyal Mohammad Mohammad Khan Ghazni Province
  • He is the finalcial chief for the Hezbi Islami.[13]
  • His election was close—he won by two votes.[13]
Al-Haj Mamur Abdul Jabar Shulgari Ghazni Province
  • Prior to his election he served in the Loya Jirga that drafted Afghanistan's new Constitution.[13]
Abdul Bagi Baryal Ghazni Province
Fauzia Gailani Herat Province
  • Won more votes than any other female candidate.[14][15]
  • Won more votes than any other candidate in Herat.[14][15]
Fazlullah Mojadeddi Logar Province
  • Formerly Governor of Logar. Member of Wolesi Jirga from 2005-2010. Did not run in the 2010 Elections.
Dr. Shakila Hashimi Logar Province
  • She is the chairperson of the Health Committee
Ali Mohammad Logar Province
  • Serves on the Communications, Urban Development, Water, power, Municipal Affairs Committee
Wali Wahdatyar Ahmadzai Logar Province
  • Unknown
Haji Akbar Stanekzai Logar Province
  • Unknown
Hajji Alam Gull Kuchi Kuchi people
Shukria Barakzai Kabul Province
Malalai Shinwari Kabul Province
  • Shinwari was a journalist prior to running for office.[19][20][21]
  • She reports her supporters were subjected to intimidation from traditionalists.
  • She opposes selling daughters into marriage to pay off debts.
Fauzia Nasryar Haidari Kabul Province
Fatima Nazry Kabul Province
Erfanullah Erfan Kabul Province
Alami Balkhi Kabul Province
  • According to a report from the Naval Postgraduate School According to the report he is "associated with [Yunus] Qanuni's political faction."[22]
Anwar Khan Auriakhel Kabul Province
Baidar Zazai Kabul Province
Abbas Noyan Kabul Province
Jamil Karzai Kabul Province
  • He is a second cousin to President Hamid Karzai.[22]
  • He was head of the National Youth Solidarity Party.[22]
  • It stated he sat on the Internal Security Committee.[22]
Obaidullah Kandahar Province
  • Served on the Economics committee.[8]
Malali Ishaqzai Kandahar Province
  • She served on the Government Services Committee.[8]
Haji Ahmad Shah Khan Asakzai Kandahar Province
  • He sat on the Armed Service Committee.[8]
Haji Ameer Lali Kandahar Province
  • He sat on the Armed Services Committee.[8]
Fariba Ahmadi Kakar Kandahar Province
  • She sat on the Armed Services Committee.[8]
Habibullah Jan Kandahar Province
  • Assassinated in 2008.[8]
  • Reported to have been a "sometimes rival of [President] Karzai".[8]
  • Reported to have been assassinated by the Taliban.[8]
  • He sat on the "Kandahar Security Shura".[8]
Khalid Pashtoon Kandahar Province
  • He was the deputy chair of the Internal Security Committee.[8]
Noorulhaq Olumi Kandahar Province
  • He was the chair of the Armed Services Committee.[8]
Shakiba Kandahar Province
  • She sat on on the Environment Committee.[8]
Sayyad Mohammad Kandahar Province
  • He sat on the Armed Services Committee.[8]
Amir Khan Sabri Khost Province
  • He sat on the Communications Committee.[23]
Mawlawi Hanif Shah al-Hussaini Khost Province
  • He sat on the Justice Committee.[23]
Sahira Sharif Khost Province
  • She sat on the Education Committee.[23]
Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy Khost Province
  • He sat on the Internal Security Committee.[23]
Gul Haar Jalal Kunar Province
  • She sat on the Disabled and Martyrs Committee.[24]
Shujaul Mulik Kunar Province
  • He sat on the Internal Security Committee.[24]
Mawlawi Shahzada Shahid Kunar Province
  • He sat on the Counter-narcotics committee.[24]
Al-Haj Sahib Rahman Kunar Province
  • He was assassinated by a suicide bomber on November 6, 2007.[24]
  • He sat on the Economics Committee.[24]
Sayed Durahman Laghman Province
  • Prior to being elected to the national legislature he was a madrassa teacher.[25]
Engineer Mohammad Alim Qarar Laghman Province
Zefnoon Safai Laghman Province
  • She sat on the legislature's budget committee.[25]
Esmatullah Muhabat Laghman Province
  • He was killed in 2005.[25]
Mulla Abdul Salam Rakity Zabul Province
  • A former Taliban commander.[26]
  • He sat on the Internal Security Committee.[26]
Hameedullah Khan Tokhi Zabul Province
  • He sat on the Internal Security Committee.[26]
Toorpekai Zabul Province
  • She sat on the Communications Committee.[26]
Ahmad Waheed Khan Tahiri Herat Province
Abdul Hadi Jamshidi Herat Province
Abdul Salam Qazizada Herat Province
Ahmad Behzad Herat Province
Ahmad Waheed Khan Tahiri Herat Province
Aqayee Jebraili Herat Province
Aziz Ahmad Naadim Herat Province
Gul Ahmad Herat Province
Mohammad Arif Tayab Herat Province
Mohammad Salih Saljoqi Herat Province
Najla Dehqan Nizhad Herat Province
Qazi Nazir Ahmad Herat Province
Rahimi Jami Herat Province
Saadat Fatahi Herat Province
Sayyad Mohammad Shafiq Herat Province
Shahnaz Hemati Herat Province
Zarin Herat Province

Election 2005

e • d Summary of 18 September 2005 Afghanistan House of the People election results
Candidates Seats
Non-partisans 249
Total 249

Election September 2010

Main article: Afghan parliamentary election, 2010

The next election of the members of the Wolesi Jirga is due on September 18, 2010. Originally these elections were planned to be held in May 2010, but after the disputed previous presidential election, elections were postponed.[27]

The elections[28] will now be held on September 18 when more than 2,500 candidates [29] will compete for the 249 seats in the Wolesi Jirga.

References

See also

External links

Commons has media related to House of the People (Afghanistan).
  • Website of the Wolesi Jirga (English)
This article was sourced from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. World Heritage Encyclopedia content is assembled from numerous content providers, Open Access Publishing, and in compliance with The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Public Library of Science, The Encyclopedia of Life, Open Book Publishers (OBP), PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and USA.gov, which sources content from all federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government publication portals (.gov, .mil, .edu). Funding for USA.gov and content contributors is made possible from the U.S. Congress, E-Government Act of 2002.
 
Crowd sourced content that is contributed to World Heritage Encyclopedia is peer reviewed and edited by our editorial staff to ensure quality scholarly research articles.
 
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. World Heritage Encyclopedia™ is a registered trademark of the World Public Library Association, a non-profit organization.