Eng. Ajmal Shams (born 1972 in Noorgal district of Kunar province) is the son of the late Shamsul Huda Shams, the former president of the Afghan Social Democratic (Mellat) Party. Shams has been president of the Afghan Social Democratic Party since October 2005.
Shams obtained his primary education in his hometown before migrating to Pakistan with his family in the early days of the Communist regime. Shams then pursued his education in Peshawar, graduated from the University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar with a B.Sc. degree in civil engineering. Upon graduation he started his career in a lecturer position in Khyber Institute of Technology and continued teaching for several years before departing for the United States for his specialization in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering. In 2002, he obtained his master's degree in civil engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. After finishing his degree, he worked as environmental engineer for a consulting engineering firm in Florida for about a year before returning home due his father insistence and his own love and passion to actively participate in the reconstruction and development of his homeland.
Eng. Shams worked for about two years as head of the water resources section of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Kabul and later on served briefly as Head of the Engineering Department of the National Solidarity Program in the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.
Eng. Ajmal Shams has been president of Afghanistan Social Democratic Party since October 2005. He was elected by an emergency party congress soon after his father's demise. Born and raised in a political family, Shams has been actively involved in party affairs from a young age. He speaks Pashto, Persian, English and Urdu languages and his articles, mainly on social and political issues of Afghanistan, have been published in various Pashto and English newspapers. Shams thoroughly understands national and global politics. He is progressive-minded and forward-looking, a true social democrat, and his party strongly supports his leadership due to his enormous energy, political wisdom and talent.