Establishment of Afghanistan's Parliament and the Role of Women Parliamentarians. Retrospect and Prospects

Abstract

This article studies the role of parliament and parliamentarians in Afghanistan with a particular focus on women during the Constitutional Period 1964-1973, the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and the re-establishment of the parliamentary system a few years after the United States toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001 and installed Hamid Karzai as head of the new government. It examines how elements of Afghanistan’s political landscape contributed to radicalization of the country’s politics and the subsequent mobilization of women as they joined political organizations to advance the cause of women.
After the parliamentary elections in 2005 women made concerted efforts to
define their role in the political arena. After securing seats in the parliament
female representatives, particularly those with radical political orientations, became even more assertive not only in expressing their views on gender issues but also in challenging the regressive views of their male counterparts during the legislative processes.
The role of women in the male-dominated parliament and how they have
dealt with traditional cultural and political hurdles as well as vocal opposition
and public insults from their male counterparts in parliamentary debates on sociopolitical and economic issues is the focus of this study.