House of the People (Afghanistan)

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Afghanistan

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The House of the People, also known natively as the Wolesi Jirga (from Pashto ulus = tribe and jirga = tent) 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 through a system of proportional representation. Members are elected by district and serve for five years. At least 64 delegates (two from each province) must be women; they are appointed by the president who also nominates two representatives of the physically disabled, and two Kuchi nomads. It 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 fundamantalist Taliban regime, still under international (mainly UN and NATO) supervision.

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Summary of 18 September 2005 Afghanistan House of the People election results

Candidates	Seats
Non-partisans	249
Total	249