List of political parties in Afghanistan

Political parties are banned in Afghanistan under the current Taliban government. Previously, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan had a multi-party system in development with numerous political parties, in which no one party often had a chance of gaining power alone, and parties had to work with each other to form coalition governments. No political party was permitted to exist that advocated anything deemed to go against Islamic morality.

The Taliban movement took over the government by force in 2021, and has since ruled the country unopposed. In September 2022, Acting Deputy Minister of Justice Maulvi Abdul Karim stated that there is "no need" for political parties to be active.[1] On 16 August 2023, the Taliban government formally banned all political parties in Afghanistan in a decree announced by Acting Justice Minister Abdul Hakim Haqqani, because according to them, there is no concept of political party in the Sharia and the political parties do not serve Afghanistan's interests.[2]

Major parties under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

All parties are now banned; the following is a list of major parties during the rule of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The law governing the formation of political parties was promulgated in 2009, and required parties to have at least 10,000 members, (previously they had only needed 700 members).[3]

English name	Ideology[4]	Logo
Watan Party of Afghanistan	Social Democracy Secularism Gender Equality
National Enlightenment Consensus Party of Afghanistan	Socialism Secularism Gender Equality
National United Party of Afghanistan	Socialism Secularism Gender Equality
Solidarity Party of Afghanistan	Socialist Feminism Secularism Democratic Socialism
Afghan Peace Movement	Socialism Secularism
Islamic Party (Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin and Hezb-i Islami Khalis)	Islamism
Republican Party of Afghanistan	Republicanism
Islamic Society	Islamism Republicanism Communitarianism
Islamic Movement of Afghanistan	Islamism Religious Fundamentalism
Afghan Social Democratic Party (Afghan Mellat)	Social democracy Pashtun Nationalism Anti-Communism
Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan	Traditionalism Islamism Hazara Minority Rights Shia Islamism
Islamic Dawah Organisation of Afghanistan	Islamism Conservatism Pashtun and Tajik Interests	Link to file
National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan	Secularism Uzbek and Turkmen Interests	Link to file
National Rescue Front (Afghanistan)	Traditionalism Islamism
Afghan Liberal Party	Secularism
Moderation Party of Afghanistan	Afghan nationalism, Democracy
Afghanistan Liberation Organization	Communism Marxism–Leninism Maoism Anti-revisionism
Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan	Communism, Marxism–Leninism–Maoism
Democratic Watan Party of Afghanistan	Neomarxism, Socialism, Islamic socialism, Secularism Democratic socialism Progressivism

Minor parties under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

English name	Ideology[4]	Logo	Status
Welfare Party of Afghanistan (Hizb-e-Refah e Afghanistan)	Welfarism
National Movement (Basej-e Milli)	Afghan nationalism Atlanticism Moderate Islamism Democratism Decentralization Reformism Republicanism Anti-Taliban	Link to file
Democratic Party of Afghanistan
Afghanistan Coherence and Mutation Party (Majma e Haqiqat e Afghan)
National Congress Party (Hezb-e-Congra-e-Mili Afghanistan)	Secularism Liberalism Federalism
National Islamic Front (Hezb-e-Mahaz-e-Milli Islami)	Afghan nationalism Pashtun Interests Royalism (formerly)
National Movement of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Nuhzhat-e-Mili Afghanistan)
National Solidarity Movement (Hezb-e-Nahzat-e-Hambastagee Mili)	Monarchism
National Sovereignty Party (Hezb-e-Eqtedar-e-Mili)
National Islamic Unity Party (Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Mili Islami)	Shi'a Islamism Hazara minority rights Religious conservatism Afghan Nationalism
National Sovereignty Party (Hezb-e-Eqtedar-e-Mili)
National Islamic Unity Party (Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Mili Islami)	Shi'a Islamism Hazara minority rights Religious conservatism Afghan Nationalism
National Solidarity Party (Hezb-e-Paiwand Mili)	Ismaili Shia interests
New Afghanistan Party (Hezb-e Afghanistan Naween)
Pashtoons Social Democratic Party (De Pashtano Tolaneez Wolaswaleez Gwand)	Secularism Social democracy Pashtun nationalism (Left-wing nationalism)	Link to file
People's Islamist Movement (Harakat-e Islami-yi)
People's Party of Afghanistan (Hizb-e Mardum-e Afghanistan)	Populism
Progressive Democratic Party of Afghanistan	Social democracy Democratic socialism Secularism Labourism Left-wing nationalism Left-wing populism
Truth and Justice (Hezb-e-Haq-wa-Edalat)	Multi-ethnic Anti-corruption Reformism Eurasianism
Unit Party
Youth Solidarity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Hambastagee Mili Jawanan) led by Doctor Fahim Tokhi	Youth rights
Hezbollah Afghanistan	Afghan Shiite minority rights Shia Islamism Qutbism–Khomeinism

Former parties

The following is a list of historical parties disestablished prior to the founding of the Islamic Republic. Since the coup in 1973, Afghanistan has had many different political parties. These include Mohammed Daoud Khan's National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan, the People's Democratic Party and the Democratic Watan Party of Afghanistan from the communist era, and the Northern Alliance that took power after the Fall of Kabul in April 1992, and ran the country until the Taliban's coup in 1996.

English name	Ideology	Notes
National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan	Republicanism, Secularism	Party founded by first president Mohammad Daoud Khan. Only legal party under his rule. Ceased to exist after a bloody military coup by the communists in 1978.
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan	Communism, Marxist-Leninism, Secularism, Left-wing nationalism	Communist party founded in 1965. Gained power in a 1978 coup, and was the dominant party of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1978 to 1990. Replaced by the Democratic Watan Party in 1990.
People's Solidarity Movement of Afghanistan (Feda'ian)	Socialism
Shola-e Javid	Communism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism, Anti-revisionism	Banned in 1969 for opposing the Shah regime.

References

1. Ziaei, Hadia (4 September 2022). "Officials: Afghanistan Does Not Need a Constitution". TOLOnews. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
2. Gul, Ayaz (16 August 2023). "Taliban Ban Afghan Political Parties, Citing Sharia Violations". Voice of America. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
3. "Political Parties in Afghanistan," British Embassy in Kabul website (accessed 14 December 2012)
4. "Refworld | A House Divided? Analysing the 2005 Afghan Elections".

External links

• د افغانستان متحد ملت ګوند Afghanistan United Nation Party Website
• Licensed political parties (from the Afghanistan Ministry of Justice)
• Leftist parties of Afghanistan
• Crisis Group Asia Briefing N°39, Political Parties in Afghanistan, 5 June 2005
• Afghanistan Analysts Network series on Afghan political parties (begun in 2012)
• Political Parties in Afghanistan United States Institute of Peace

See also

• List of political parties by country