Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Jirga / National Assembly |
Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Meshrano Jirga / House of Elders |
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Wolesi Jirga / House of Representatives
|
BACKGROUND |
Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
20 February 2010 |
Purpose of elections |
Renewal of the 68 members indirectly elected by the Provincial Councils in November 2005. |
The statutory number of members of the House of Elders is three times the number of existing provinces (currently 34) comprising the following members.
- 68 indirectly elected members: These include one representative from each of the 34 Provincial Councils
serving a four-year term; and one representative from each of the 34 local District Councils
serving a three-year term.
- 34 appointed members: appointed by the President for a five-year term.
On 20 August 2009
elections to the Provincial Councils were held in parallel with presidential elections. As was the case in 2005
elections to the District Councils were not held. The seats reserved for the District Councils will continue to be filled by the representatives of the Provincial Councils until District Council elections are held.
On 20 February 2010
68 representatives (two from each of the 34 Provincial Councils) including 11 women were elected. Following the 2010 renewal
the House of Elders comprises 28 women out of a total of 102 members. |
STATISTICS |
Voter turnout |
Distribution of votes |
|
Distribution of seats |
|
Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men Women Percent of women |
74 28 27.45%
|
Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
Comments |
Note on the number of women:
Eleven women were indirectly elected while 17 were appointed by the President.
Source: House of Elders (17.07.2010) |