In anticipation of the upcoming Constitutional Loya Jirga, originally scheduled for October, 2003, (which may now be delayed for about two months) to decide on the form of government for Afghanistan and map out a strategy for a new permanent government, political groups have started organizing and reorganizing their structures and objectives. Some of these groups have already announced establishment or regrouping of their respective political parties. But in Afghanistan today, there is no law to govern political parties or allow, within the framework of the law, political action by political parties. The constitution of 1964 only allows establishment of political parties and suggests that a separate law would regulate this. That law is still to be worked out and legally promulgated. It is mostly left to the new constitution to also map out a strategy for political action in the country and to issue directives regarding laws regulating the nature, number, establishment and action of political parties.

Afghanistan's minister of justice has been quoted several times saying that political parties are not legal in Afghanistan. This happens in the wake of reports of either establishment of new parties, like the one proclaimed by the royalists and which is reportedly headed by the former King's cousin, Mr. Sultan Mahmoud Ghazi, the efforts by the northern alliance officials to establish a new party, activation of the so called older parties of the Mujahideen groupings and or coalition of democratic parties or those of the leftist groupings, etc.

One of the main contenders for power in the country, Mr. Hamid Karzai, on the other hand has no organization, except for his family and friends, to rely on in the upcoming competitions for power. His past political party alliances apart, he is riding mainly on his god-given popularity because he was an eager player of the Bonn meeting politics and a friend of the superpower that drove Taleban away. Whether this would be enough is to be seen, but he has accrued enough international support and recognition, which would come handy in his future campaign for power.

But the country at this stage does need political action by selfless, honest and truly patriotic political parties. Now these parties cannot legally be established because of the lack of laws governing their establishment and the law for this purpose needs to be referred to in the new constitution that itself needs a lot of political input by political parties. This takes us to a vicious circle of no law to have a political party and no political party to help a legislature to create one. In other words the situation is pretty much like the "chicken or egg" and which one comes first. And the legislature that Mr. Karzai had promised to create for the purposes of consulting the nation during the period of transition was never made. Presently, when the government refers to a law having been made, it is actually talking only of a directive that has been issued by the leader of the transitional set up. Mr. Karzai has used his cabinet as a makeshift legislature and that is something that goes contrary to democratic norms, as the executive in democratic countries does not make the laws. Laws are made by the peoples' representatives and not by their rulers.

But in actuality, whether the transitional government's minister of justice wants it or not, there is ongoing political action and even campaigns that are going on in the country. The royalists propagate their objective of reviving of the "institution of monarchy" now that the old monarch has already reached the age of senility and is physical ailing; the leftists are trying to get their foot in the door of Afghan politics once again, and the Mujahideen groupings including Jihadi groups are trying to reorganize. The Jameeat Islami party, both by itself and in alliance with other factions, and its new divisions created by the younger leaders within the party, women's groups etc are all striving for gaining recognition in the political games that will be played shortly for power. The Hizb-e-Islami party, while its leader has gone underground, has proclaimed its opposition to the transitional government and the continuation of stay of the US troops in the country and is reportedly working together with remnants of Al-Qaeda and Taleban to disturb and dismantle the government and the foreign forces in the country.

How the legal problem regarding political parties would play out is to be seen, but it is important that the transitional government make sure that in all these games, the principle of freedom and national interests of the Afghan nation is preserved and that the nation is given a fair chance to speak out about its wishes regarding the constitution, and also next year's elections. It is not enough to publish news of more than one hundred thousand written suggestions that have been sent into the Constitution Review Commission; the Commission that has been set up by the transitional government must make sure that these ideas are summarized in a realistic way and are then reflected in the draft of the constitution that would be presented to the Constitutional Loya Jirga. Furthermore, the government should make sure that delegates to the Jirga are true representatives of the people and are not influenced by the government, interest groups and the so-called political parties that are not even legal! 9/7/03