Women Parliamentarians of Afghanistan--Seats in Parliament but Little Decision-Making Power

Afghan President Hamid Karzai was sworn in on November 19. If the inaugural ceremony gives any indication of Karzai's policy regarding Afghan women, it does not bode well for their future political effectiveness. Approximately 800 people were witnessing the ceremony. They were predominantly male.

Having been absent from the decision-making process for centuries, the Afghan women for the first time entered the political arena in 2001, after the overthrow of Taliban. With the introduction of reserved seats provision in the 2002 Emergency Loya Jirga, when 10% of 1600 seats were reserved for women, the ground was laid for participation of Afghan women in parliament.

The new 2004 constitution secured reserved seats for women and minorities in both houses of parliament, and thus cemented the wider participation of women in parliament. Out of the 2005 parliamentarian elections, Afghan women emerged winners.

They won 89 seats and today according to Inter-Parliamentarian Union, they are holding 67 seats (27.7%) in Wolesi Jirga (lower house) and 22 (21.6%) in Meshrano Jirga (upper house). Though this representation is above the worldwide average of 18.5% and above the average of the United States at 16.8% for the House and 15.4% for the Senate, the struggle of Afghan women parliamentarians for voice in the decision-making process is far from over.

The constitutionally-secured political representation of Afghan women in the parliament has so far not translated into their decision-making power. The religious conservatives are in the majority holding key parliamentary positions and 134 seats. The women parliamentarians are in extremely challenging position having to resort to different tactics to exercise their mandate.

UNIFEM and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung study report revealed the lack of unity among women parliamentarians. Because they are coming from different provinces representing different parliamentarian groups with different political agendas, it is difficult for them to achieve cooperation and overcome their divisions.

Some of them are pursuing the agenda of fundamentalists and other groups that helped to elect them, some of them are pursuing the agenda of their male colleagues whose support they consider crucial.

The pressure to establish themselves as good leaders independently of women's agenda plays also an important role and influences their decision-making. So, some of them are choosing their political survival ahead of their unity and struggle for empowerment of women.

There have been a few initiatives in the last three years to address the divisions among them.

In summer of 2007, a Women Parliamentary Network was established with 39 members coming from different parliamentary groups, assemblies and provinces with the focus on empowerment of women. The network grew to approximately 100 members by July 2008. In addition to women representatives from both houses of parliament, provincial councils, judiciary, and executive branch, the expanded Network included also women from media and academia in their midst.

The focus of the Network is on women's issues, education, and violence against women, reproductive health, and gender-sensitive law-making, gender budgeting, building cooperation among women from different sectors and parties and change of cultural attitudes towards women.

Women's increased participation in political and public life makes them vulnerable to attacks of religious fundamentalists and Taliban. Afghan women political representatives have expressed their concerns that in spite of constant intimidation and threats on their life they have received inadequate security protection from Afghan government. Lack of security, combined with religious beliefs, in turn influences their political decisions in parliament as well.

The weak functioning of Afghan Parliament in itself is weakening the role of women parliamentarians. The struggle for power between legislature and executive, combined with President Karzai's autocratic governance and his lack of support for wider participation of women in the decision-making process makes it impossible for them to achieve any real influence and power. The quota system does not work in their favor either since they are not seen as elected representatives.

Source: Inter-Parliamentarian Union,
Afghanistan's parliament in the making, Andrea Fleschenberg, Heinrich Böll Stiftung and UNIFEM