Politics of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

On 7 September 2021 the Taliban officials in de facto control of most of Afghanistan announced a new interim government headed by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund as Prime Minister.

The nation was formerly led by President Ashraf Ghani who was backed by two vice presidents, Amrullah Saleh and Sarwar Danish until Ghani fled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in August 2021 due to Taliban fighters reaching the capital Kabul, which established a de facto government.

Hamid Karzai was declared the first-ever democratically elected head of state in Afghanistan in 2004, winning a second five-year term in 2009.

Afghanistan was an Islamic republic consisting of three branches of power (executive, legislative, and judiciary) overseen by checks and balances.

While supporters have praised Karzai's efforts to promote national reconciliation and a growing economy, critics charge him with failing to stem corruption and the illegal drug production.

[citation needed] The Supreme Court of Afghanistan was led by Chief Justice Sayed Yusuf Halem, replacing Abdul Salam Azimi in 2014.

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference left the Afghan seat vacant until the question of legitimacy could be resolved through negotiations among the warring factions.

The Taliban controlled 95% of the territory by 2001 and only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates recognized them as the government of Afghanistan.

After the Taliban's refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden to U.S. authorities for his involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., a US-led international coalition was formed; after several weeks of aerial bombardment by coalition forces and military action on the ground, including operations with the Northern Alliance, the Taliban was officially ousted from power on November 17, 2001.

In December 2001, a number of prominent Afghans met under the United Nations auspices in Germany to decide on a plan for governing the country.

Members of the United States Armed Forces and other NATO countries began sending large number of troops to Afghanistan.

The structure of the Transitional Authority was announced on June 10, 2002, when an emergency loya jirga (grand assembly) convened establishing the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA), which had 18 months to hold a constitutional loya jirga to adopt a constitution and 24 months to hold nationwide elections.

However, Karzai made this statement to the media:"It is too late to call for a boycott now that millions of Afghans have come from their homes despite rain and snow and they have voted... We should respect the people's will.

"[4] An independent commission found evidence of fraud, but ruled that it did not affect the outcome of the poll and Karzai won with 55.4% of the vote.

The Constitution of Afghanistan creates a strong presidency, serving as the head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the Afghan Armed Forces.

After winning the 2004 election and removing many of the former Northern Alliance warlords from his cabinet, it was thought that Karzai would pursue a more aggressively reformist path in 2005 but he proved to be more cautious.

[6][7] The Obama administration urged Karzai to exclude ineffective or corrupt officials from the new government, while powerful Afghans who helped deliver his re-election were demanding positions.

The relations again began to decline in late 2013 after Karzai decided not to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the United States.

[11] On August 15, 2021, during the 2021 Taliban offensive, as the Fall of Kabul was occurring, Ashraf Ghani left Afghanistan with his wife to Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

The 2009 presidential election was characterized by lack of security, low voter turnout and widespread ballot stuffing, intimidation, and other electoral fraud.

On November 1, however, Abdullah announced that he would no longer be participating in the run-off because his demands for changes in the electoral commission had not been met, and a "transparent election is not possible."

A day later, on November 2, 2009, officials of the election commission canceled the run-off and declared Hamid Karzai as President of Afghanistan for another 5-year term.

When the final results were released in February 2020, Abdullah rejected them, forming a parallel government and organising a separate inauguration.

[18] The dispute was resolved on May 16, 2020, when the two signed a power-sharing deal whereby Ghani remained president, however both would choose an equal number of ministers and Abdullah would lead peace talks with the Taliban.