Government & politics — Afghanistan

the name "Afghan" originally referred to the Pashtun people (today it is understood to include all the country's ethnic groups), while the suffix "-stan" means "place of" or "country"; so Afghanistan literally means the "Land of the Afghans"

the Taliban is implementing its own interpretation of Islamic law, which partially based on the Hanifi school of Islamic jurisprudence; before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan had a mixed legal system of civil, customary, and Islamic law (2021)

• chief of state: Overall Taliban Leader HAYBATULLAH Akhundzada serves as the head of the Taliban government as Amir-ul Momineen note - on 7 September 2021, the Taliban announced Mohammad HASSAN Akhund as the “acting prime minister” of the "caretaker government”; as of November 2021, the group had announced three acting “deputy prime ministers” - Abdul Ghani BERADER, Abdul Salam HANAFI,
• and Abdul KABIR head of government: Overall Taliban Leader HAYBATULLAH Akhundzada serves as t
• he head of the Taliban government as Amir-ul Momineen cabinet: includes the acting prime minister, acting deputy prime ministers,
• and 26 ministries elections/appointments: the 2004 Afghan constitution directed that the president should be elected by majority popular vote for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 28 September 2019

Description

the Taliban Government has not announced the formation of a legislative branch; before the 2021 Taliban takeover, Afghanistan had a bicameral National Assembly that consisted of the House of Elders and House of the People

• the Taliban Government has a Supreme Court: number of judges and organizational structure NA note - before 15 August 2021, Afghanistan had a Supreme Court (consisting of a supreme court chief and 8 justices organized into criminal, public security, civil,
• and commercial divisions) judge selection and term of office: the Taliban Supreme Court judge selection and term of office NA note - before 15 August 2021, the Supreme Court chief and justices were appointed by the president with the approval of the Wolesi Jirga; court chie
• f and justices served single 10-year terms subordinate courts: the Taliban Government has many provincial-level courts, religious courts, and specialty courts note - before 15 August 2021, consisted of Appeals Courts; Primary Courts; and Special Courts for issues including narcotics, security, property, family, and juveniles

34 provinces (welayat, singular - welayat) Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamyan, Daykundi, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghor, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar, Kunduz, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nimroz, Nuristan, Paktika, Paktiya, Panjshir, Parwan, Samangan, Sar-e Pul, Takhar, Uruzgan, Wardak, Zabul

• the Taliban Government enforces an authoritarian state and has banned other political parties
• Note: before 15 August 2021, the Ministry of Justice had licensed 72 political parties as of April 2019

• no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must have been born in - and co
• no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

member of the following organizations but cannot participate because the international community does not recognize the Taliban Government: ADB, CICA, CP, ECO, EITI (candidate country), FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE (partner), SAARC, SACEP, SCO (dialogue member), UN, UNAMA, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

chief of mission

the United States does not maintain a presence in Afghanistan and bases the Department of State's Afghanistan Affairs Unit in Doha, Qatar note - the US Embassy in Kabul closed in August 2021 embassy: Embassy Kabul, operations have been suspended; Department of State’s Afghanistan Affairs Unit operates from Doha, Qatar.

chief of mission

none note - the Afghan Embassy closed in March 2022