List of political parties in Afghanistan

This article lists political parties in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

has a multi-party system

Multi-party system

A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...

in development with numerous political parties

Political Parties

Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...

, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition government

Coalition government

A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...

s. No political party is permitted to exist that advocates anything that is deemed to go against Islamic morality.

Major parties

English name	Original name	Ideology
Islamic Party Hezbi Islami Hezbi Islami , meaning Islamic Party is an Islamist organization commonly known for fighting in the Marxist Government of Afghanistan and their close ally the Soviet Union. Founded and led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, it was established in Pakistan in 1975...	Hezb-e Islami	Islamic Party Islamic party An Islamic party is a party that works for promoting Islam while an Islamic political party is a political party that promotes Islam as a political movement by offering nominees for election in a democracy - of which there are several in the Islamic world. They are important to distinguish from...
Republic Party of Afghanistan	Hezbi Jumhori Afghanistan	Republicanism Republicanism Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
Islamic Society Jamiat-e Islami Jamiat-e Islami , is an Islamic political party in Afghanistan along the line of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. Jamiat-e Islami means "Islamic society" in the Persian language and is also known as just Jamiat for short. Jamiat is the oldest Islamic political party in Afghanistan...	Jamiat-e Islami	Islamic party Islamic party An Islamic party is a party that works for promoting Islam while an Islamic political party is a political party that promotes Islam as a political movement by offering nominees for election in a democracy - of which there are several in the Islamic world. They are important to distinguish from...
Islamic Movement of Afghanistan Islamic Movement of Afghanistan Islamic Movement of Afghanistan is a political party and former faction of the Afghan Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. The movement is registered as a political party with the Ministry of Justice. From its foundation to 2005, the movement was led by Ayatollah Muhammad Asif Muhsini. The movement...	Harakat-e Islami-yi	Islamic party Islamic party An Islamic party is a party that works for promoting Islam while an Islamic political party is a political party that promotes Islam as a political movement by offering nominees for election in a democracy - of which there are several in the Islamic world. They are important to distinguish from...
Afghan Social Democratic Party	Afghan Mellat	Social democracy Social democracy Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
Islamic United Party of Afghanistan	Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan	Islamic party Islamic party An Islamic party is a party that works for promoting Islam while an Islamic political party is a political party that promotes Islam as a political movement by offering nominees for election in a democracy - of which there are several in the Islamic world. They are important to distinguish from...
Islamic Dawah Organisation of Afghanistan	Ittehad-I Islami Bara-yi Azadi Afghanistan	Islamic party
National Rescue Front	hezb jabha nijat mili	Islamic party Islamic party An Islamic party is a party that works for promoting Islam while an Islamic political party is a political party that promotes Islam as a political movement by offering nominees for election in a democracy - of which there are several in the Islamic world. They are important to distinguish from...

Minor parties

National Islamic Front
National Islamic Front (Afghanistan)
The National Islamic Front of Afghanistan or NIFA is an Afghan party led by Sufi leader Pir Sayed Ahmed Gailani...

(Hezb-e-Mahaz-e-Mili Islami)
National Movement of Afghanistan
National Movement of Afghanistan
The National Movement of Afghanistan is a political party in Afghanistan.The size of the party is not available yet, since parliamentary elections were held on a non-partisan basis....

(Hezb-e-Nuhzhat-e-Mili Afghanistan)
National Sovereignty Party (Hezb-e-Eqtedar-e-Mili)
National Solidarity Movement
National Solidarity Movement of Afghanistan
The party known as National Solidarity Movement of Afghanistan is led by Sayed Ishaq Gailani. It supported Hamid Karzai in the 2004 presidential election despite its previous support for the former King Zahir Shah. It is connected with powerful conservative families in the Pashtun region.The NSMA...

(Hezb-e-Nahzat-e-Hambastagee Mili)
People's Islamic Movement (Harakat-e Islami-yi)
National Islamic Unity Party (Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Mili Islami)
National Solidarity Party (Hezb-e-Paiwand Mili)
Pashtoons Social Democratic Party
Pashtoons Social Democratic Party
The Pashtoons Social Democratic Party, more commonly known as PSDP is the unity and independence party of all Pashtoons, a Social Democratic political party in Afghanistan and Pakistan, near the Afghan border, and the headquarter of PSDP is in Pashtoonkhwa and its various units act for party...

(De Pashtano Tolaneez Wolaswaleez Gwand)
Youth Solidarity Party of Afghanistan (Hezb-e-Hambastagee Mili Jawanan)
National Congress Party
National Congress Party of Afghanistan
The National Congress Party of Afghanistan is a liberal, secular, and multi-ethnic political party in Afghanistan. The party was formed in 2004 and is the only major opposition party that is not linked to an armed group. The leader of this party is Latīf Pedrām who is an opponent of the...

(Hezb-e-Congra-e-Mili Afghanistan)
Haqiqat e Afghan Association
Haqiqat e Afghan Association
The most important objective of Haqiqat e Afghan is the rebuilding of Afghanistan. The intention to that is to reunite all Afghans. Thus the party strives to oblige bases and middle education for all of our children and to setting-up a system of health care, pension supplies and a tax system...

(Majma e Haqiqat e Afghan)
Unit Party
Unit Party
A Unit party is a union of two parties such as the National Movement Party and the Progressive Learning party. Unit parties are established by big groups which are mostly in power before 1992....

Former parties

Since the coup in 1973, Afghanistan has had many different political parties. These include Mohammed Daoud Khan

Mohammed Daoud Khan

Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan or Daud Khan was Prime Minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and later becoming the President of Afghanistan...

's National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan, the People's Democratic Party

People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan

The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan was a communist party established on the 1 January 1965. While a minority, the party helped former president of Afghanistan, Mohammed Daoud Khan, to overthrow his cousin, Mohammed Zahir Shah, and established Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan...

and the Democratic Watan Party of Afghanistan

Democratic Watan Party of Afghanistan

The Democratic Watan Party of Afghanistan is a political party in Afghanistan.It emerged out of the Parcham faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan...

from the communist era

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was a government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. It was both ideologically close to and economically dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War.- Saur Revolution :...

, and the Northern Alliance

Northern Alliance

The Afghan Northern Alliance is a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996.Northern Alliance may also refer to:*Northern Alliance , a Canadian white supremacist group...

that took power after the Fall of Kabul in April 1992, and ran the country until Taliban's coup in 1996.

English name	Ideology	Notes
Democratic Watan Party of Afghanistan Democratic Watan Party of Afghanistan The Democratic Watan Party of Afghanistan is a political party in Afghanistan.It emerged out of the Parcham faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan...	Communism Communism Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production... , marxism-leninism Marxism-Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan	Right-Centralism
Northern Alliance Northern Alliance The Afghan Northern Alliance is a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996.Northern Alliance may also refer to:*Northern Alliance , a Canadian white supremacist group...	More soft Islamism Islamism Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...	The Northern Alliance Northern Alliance The Afghan Northern Alliance is a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996.Northern Alliance may also refer to:Northern Alliance , a Canadian white supremacist group... is no longer considered to be a political party, but many of the members of the Afghan parliament and government are formerly from the Northern Alliance. They are also an organization that are fighting against Taliban's terror Terror Terror may refer to:Fear, an emotional response to threats and dangerTerror, a political strategy of the asymmetrical use of threats and violence against enemies using means that fall outside the routine forms of political struggle operating within some current regimeTerrorism, the fact of... .
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan was a communist party established on the 1 January 1965. While a minority, the party helped former president of Afghanistan, Mohammed Daoud Khan, to overthrow his cousin, Mohammed Zahir Shah, and established Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan...	Communism Communism Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production... , marxism-leninism Marxism-Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...

Current banned parties

English name	Ideology	Notes
Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan	Communism Communism Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production... , maoism Maoism Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...	Banned for active anti-Coalition activities.
Taliban	Extreme Islamism Islamism Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary... , capitalism Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category... , conservativism	Banned because of extremist islamist policy.. The party is known for their support of al-Qaida, which was a primary reason they were ousted.

External links

Licensed political parties (from the Afghanistan Ministry of Justice)
Leftist parties of Afghanistan

Major parties

Minor parties

Former parties

Current banned parties

External links

See also