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Afghanistan
The King Reigns: The Last Decade of the Monarchy, 1963-73
The new government both represented and sought change. Within
two months, ordered an investigation into the abysmal conditions
of Afghan prisons, and reached an agreement reestablishing diplomatic
and trade relations with Pakistan.
The single greatest achievement of the 1963-73 decade was the
promulgation of the 1964 constitution. A mere two weeks after
Daoud's resignation, the king appointed a commission to draft
a new constitution. In the spring of 1964, he ordered the convening
of a loya jirgah--a country-wide gathering that included members
of the National Assembly, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the
constitutional commission. One hundred and seventy-six members
were elected by the provinces and thirty-four members were appointed
directly by the king. Although the assemblage of 452 persons (including
six women) that met in September 1964 was composed primarily of
officials who could be expected to support the royal line, the
loya jirgah also included members elected from around the entire
nation. On September 20, the document was signed by the 452 members
and ten days later, the kings signature transformed it into the
new constitution.
The constitution--and the deliberations that produced it--demonstrated
several noteworthy changes in political thinking. It barred the
royal family, other than the king, from participating in politics
and government--a provision that was perceived as keeping Daoud
out of politics. Individual rights were strongly championed by
provincial delegates over tribal ones. Conservative religious
members were persuaded to accept provisions they once considered
intolerably secular. Although a lengthy debate ensued over whether
the word Afghan should be used to denote all citizens
of Afghanistan (many people regarded it as a reference only to
Pashtuns), the loya jirgah agreed that this term should apply
to all citizens. The constitution identified Islam as "the sacred
religion of Afghanistan," but it was still necessary to persuade
many conservative members that their religion had been enshrined
in the constitution. Although Article 64 decreed that no law could
be enacted that was "repugnant to the basic principles" of Islam,
Article 69 defined laws as a resolution passed by the houses of
parliament and signed by the king, with sharia to be
used when no such law existed.
The constitution's provisions for an independent judiciary gave
rise to heated debate among religious leaders, many of whom supported
the existing legal system based on religion. Although religious
judges were incorporated into the new judicial system, the supremacy
of secular law was established. The new constitution provided
for a constitutional monarchy, with a bicameral legislature, but
predominant power remained in the hands of the king.
Most observers described the 1965 elections as remarkably fair.
The 216-member Wolesi Jirgah, or the lower house of parliament,
included representation not only by antiroyalists but also by
the left and right of the political spectrum. Included were supporters
of the king, Pashtun nationalists, entrepreneurs and industrialists,
political liberals, a small group of leftists, and conservative
Muslim leaders still opposed to secularization. The king nominated
a new prime minister, Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal, who quickly
established friendly relations with the students, while making
it clear that he was in charge and there were limits to student
political activity.
On January 1, 1965, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
(PDPA) was founded. The PDPA, a communist party in fact if not
in name, was established for the primary purpose of gaining parliamentary
seats. The PDPA was comprised of a small group of men, followers
of Nur Mohammad Taraki and Babrak Karmal, both avowed Marxist-Leninists
with a pro-Moscow orientation. The fact that four PDPA members
won parliamentary seats suggests that government efforts to prevent
the success of its leftist opponents by intervening in the balloting
were halfhearted. Taraki, one of the four PDPA members elected
to parliament in 1965, started the first major leftist newspaper,
Khalq (Masses), which lasted little more than a month
before being silenced by a government ban.
The Afghan political system remained suspended between democracy
and monarchy, although it was, in reality, much closer to the
latter. Political parties continued to be prohibited because the
king refused to sign legislation allowing them. Democracy nevertheless
maintained a toehold in the lower house of parliament where free
criticism of government policies and personnel was aired.
In 1967, only a year and a half after its founding, the PDPA
had split into several factions. The two most important of these
were the Khalq (Masses) faction headed by Taraki and the Parcham
(Banner) faction headed by Karmal. Although the split was couched
in ideological terms, it was largely due to personality differences
between Taraki and Karmal and to their respective preferences
in organizing tactics. Taraki favored a Leninist-type party based
on the working class, while Karmal wanted a broad democratic front.
Supporters of Khalq were primarily Pashtuns from rural Afghanistan,
while Parchamis tended to be from urban areas, to come from a
better socio-economic background than Khalqis. Unlike the Khalqis,
Parchamis included many non-Pashtuns who spoke Dari (Persian)
in their ranks.
The monarchy did not treat both factions equally. Karmal's Parcham
faction was allowed to publish its own newspaper, Parcham,
for more than a year (from March 1968 to July 1969) while the
Khalq faction had its paper banned. As a result, Khalq accused
Parcham of having connections with the king and bitterly denounced
its rival as the "Royal Communist Party."
The 1969 parliamentary elections, when voter turnout was not
much greater than in 1965 produced a legislative assembly essentially
consistent with the real population and distribution of power
in the hinterland, in that conservative landowners and businessmen
predominated and many more non-Pashtuns were elected than in the
previous legislature. Most of the urban liberals and all of the
female delegates lost their seats. Few leftists remained in the
new parliament, although Karmal and Hafizullah Amin had been elected
from districts in and near Kabul. Former prime minister Maiwandwal,
a democratic socialist, lost his seat when the government selectively
influenced the elections.
Between 1969 and 1973, instability ruled Afghan politics. The
parliament was lethargic and deadlocked. Public dissatisfaction
over the unstable government prompted growing political polarization
as both the left and the right began to attract more members.
Still personally popular, the king nevertheless came under increasing
criticism for not supporting his own prime ministers.
It was in this atmosphere of internal discontent and polarization
and external shakiness that Daoud implemented the coup d'état
he had been planning for a year in response to the "anarchy and
the anti-national attitude of the regime." While the king was
out of the country for medical treatment, Daoud and a small military
group seized power in an almost bloodless coup. The stability
Zahir Shah had sought through constitutionally sanctioned limited
democracy had not been achieved, and was a generally favorable
response greeted Daoud's reemergence even though it meant the
demise of the monarchy Ahmad Shah Durrani established in 1747.
Data as of 1997
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