House of Elders (Afghanistan)

House of Elders
مشرانو جرگه
Type
Type
Structure
Seats 102 members
Authority advisory and limited veto power; no law-making power
Elections
One-third by district councils,
One-third by provincial councils,
One third nominated by the president
Meeting place
Kabul
Website
mj.parliament.af
Afghanistan
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The House of Elders or Mesherano Jirga (Pashto: مشرانو جرگه‎), is the upper house of the bicameral National Assembly of Afghanistan, alongside the lower House of the People (Wolesi Jirga).

The House of Elders has 102 members. One-third (34) are elected by district councils (one per province) for three-year terms, one-third (34) by provincial councils (one per province) for four-year terms, and one-third (34) are nominated by the president for five-year terms. However, elections for the district councils were not held in the 2005 parliamentary elections. As such, each provincial council also selected one of its elected members to temporarily hold seats in the house until district council elections are held. Half of the presidential nominees have to be women, two representatives from the disabled and impaired and two from the Kuchis.[1]

The House of Elders primarily has an advisory role rather than a maker of law. However, it does have some veto power.

Reserved seats for women

Having been absent from the decision-making process for centuries, Afghan women for the first time entered the political arena in 2001, after the overthrow of Taliban. With the introduction of reserved seats provision in the 2002 Emergency Loya Jirga, when ten percent of 1600 seats were reserved for women, the ground was laid for participation of Afghan women in parliament.

The new 2004 constitution secured reserved seats for women and minorities in both houses of parliament. In the 2005 parliamentarian elections, Afghan women won 89 seats. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in 2009 they held 67 seats (27.7%) in the House of the People and 22 (21.6%) in the House of Elders. This representation is above the worldwide average of 18.5% and above the average of the United States at 16.8% for the House and 15.4% for the Senate.

Members of Meshrano Jirga from 2005

Members of Meshrano Jirga from 2005[2]
incumbent image nature
of
term 		notes
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi appointed appointed Chairman 2005
Sayed Hamed Gailani
Burhanullah Shinwari former Deputy Chairman
Aminuddin Mozafari
Abdul Khaliq Hussaini secretary to the Communications Committee
Mohammed Fahim Former Vice-President
Ahmadshah Ramazan
Arsalan Rahmani
Bakhtar Aminzai
Bilqis Kochi
Torday Akhon
Qazi Soraya Ahmadyar
Homayrah Nemati
Hyatullah
Khadim Hussain Khodayar
Khan Mohammad Khagy
Khadija Husseini
Khairo Jan
Raz Muhammad
Roshan Arah Alkozai
Ryda Azimi
Zalmay
Sarah Sorkhabi
Sakhy Moshwani
Amer Sahedullah
Qazi Sahedullah Aboaman
Peer Sayed Ibrahim Gylani
Sultan Jan Khaksar
Haji Suliman Yari ?-2013 Died May 2013
Samih Jan Shirzada
Sohilah Sharifi
Sayed Hamed Agha
Sayed Dawood Nasseri
Sayed Saleh Muhammad Saleh
Abdul Basir Ahmadi
Mullah Sayed Muhammad Akhund
Sayed Muhammad Mohsen
Shah Bi Bi
Wakeel Shah Nawaz
Sheer Mohammad Akhundzada
Sheer Muhammad Nooristani
Sabir Khan
Sediqah Balkhi
Safar Muhammad Kakar
Tayba Zahedi
Hallya Qazizada Qardash
Ebadullah Naqshbandi
Abdulahmad Zahdi
Abdul Baqi Baryal
Abdul Hafiz Zahir
Abdul Hameed Aimaq
Qazi Abdul Hay Khadim
AbdulRahman Hakimi
Abdul Satar
Ostad Abdul Sabor Farid
Abdul Qader Dostum
Abdullah Haqani
Abdul Wali Ahmadzai
Attahullah
Abdul Wahed Karizwal
Ghulam Farooq Farahi
Fazel Karim Mohammadi
Faqeer Muhammad
Qurban Ali Orfani
Qamer Khosti
Kubra Aman
Kubra Mostafawoi
Gongarem
Mahbob Khan
Mahboba Hoqoqmal 2004?-
Mohtrama Habibi
Moslema Hussaini
Muhammad Afzal Ahmadzai
Muhammad Akbar Wahedat
Muhammad Anwar Muradi
Muhammad Baqir Sharifi
Muhammad Hassan Hotak
Muhammad Hassan Qazizada
Muhammad Hanif Hanifi
Muhammad Rangin Moshkwani
Muhammad Zaman Mohebi Bahlol
Muhammad Harif Sarwari
Muhammad Halam Eizedyar 2005- First Deputy Speaker and Secretary of the Legislature's International Relations Committee
Muhammad Omar Shirzad
Mohammad Omar Samim 2005-
Muhammad Eysa Khan Shinwari
Muhammad Kabir Marzban
Mohammad Nasir Attayee
Muhammad Hashim Ortaq 2005-
Muhammad Yunos Sheerin Agha
Khwaja Mahmmood Rashed
Mokaram Khan Nasseri
Mirbat Khan Mangal
Najeebah Hussaini
Najeebah Rokhshani Baloch
Nasereen Parsah
Nazar Muhammad 2005- appointed
Nafas Gul Khedmat
Nafisa Sultani
Noorullah Mehmar
Kafeel Noor Muhammad
Wakeel Muhammad Laiq
Hedayetullah Rehay

References

  1. ↑ Article 84 of the Afghan Constitution.
  2. ↑ "Meshrano Jirga". Government of Afghanistan. Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 2009-07-15. The Meshrano Jirga of the National Assembly of Afghanistan consists of 102 members. Two-thirds were elected indirectly through Provincial Councils (one-third representing the Provincial Councils and one-third representing the District Councils) and one-third were appointed by the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

See also

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