The politics of Afghanistan takes place within the framework of Taliban rule.
Following their takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban announced a caretaker government on 7 September 2021.
Supreme Leader
Hibatullah Akhundzada is the leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, having authority on all political, military, religious decisions, and government appointments.
As supreme leader, much of his work is done alongside the Rahbari Shura (Leadership Council) which oversees the Cabinet and Prime Minister of Afghanistan.
The Rahbari Shura in conjunction with Akhundzada appoints individuals to key positions within the cabinet; which includes the positions of Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of the Interior.
Currently, the supreme leader is also responsible for determining the overall aims of the Cabinet of Afghanistan, serving as a point of unity and leadership among the various factions of the Taliban.
Because of Hibatullah Akhundzada’s credentials as Mawlawi and knowledge of Fiqh, he is broadly respected among the Taliban and thus seen as a unifying figure.
Rahbari Shura
The Rahbari Shura (Leadership Council) is a 26 member council assisting the supreme leader with the governance of Afghanistan.
According to now-Deputy Minister of Information and government spokesperson; Zabiullah Mujahid, the Rahbari Shura will oversee the Council of Ministers and determine key governmental decisions.
The council was also responsible for appointing a new supreme leader after the death of their predecessor, however it’s not yet known if the council will exercise this power after the Fall of Kabul in 2021.
This setup is reminiscent of how the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was governed from 1996 to 2001 with Mohammad Omar being Head of the Supreme Council.
However, the system has also been compared to the Supreme Leader of Iran and its clerical system of rule.
The council itself was also the executive body of the Taliban during the War in Afghanistan, determining the overall direction of the group as an insurgency.
According to an Al Jazeera report, the Council of Ministers is powerless in practice, with all political power actually being vested with Akhundzada and the Rahbari Shura, which is based out of Kandahar.
Cabinet
The current caretaker cabinet was presented in an announcement on 7 September 2021.
The country as a whole is headed by Hibatullah Akhundzada, who became head of the Taliban in 2016.
The Prime Minister, Mohammad Hassan Akhund, was selected as a compromise candidate between moderate and hardline factions of the Taliban.
There are two Deputy Prime Ministers, Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi.
In total, the cabinet (not including Hibatulla Akhundzada) included 33 ministers.
All of the ministers named were men.
Two ministers were Tajik, and one (Abdul Salam Hanafi) was Uzbek.
All other ministers, as well as Hibatullah Akhundzada, are from the Pashtun ethnic group.
As the country's largest ethnicity, Pashtuns have long dominated both the Taliban and non-Taliban politics.
Some members of the government served as ministers during the previous period of Taliban rule which lasted from 1996 to 2001.
The government was announced by the Taliban's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, who stated that this cabinet was not complete, with further appointments intended to be made.
While the Taliban had previously stated that they wanted to form an inclusive government, all ministers were long-standing members of the Taliban.
On 21 September 2021, Mujahid announced the expansion of the Taliban's interim cabinet by naming deputy ministers.
Mujdahid defended the all-male additional members, saying it included members of ethnic minorities, such as the Hazaras, and women might be added later.
The appointment included figures from Panjshir and Baghlan.
Policies
The full name of the state is the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Taliban policy is to implement Sharia law.
Unapproved protests were banned on 9 September, following large-scale women-led protests.
The policies regarding women include a ban on participation in sports.
Education
The government has ordered primary schools to re-open and announced that it plans to re-open high schools for male students, but has yet to comment on whether girls will be able to attend high school.
While the Taliban states that female college students will be able to return to universities provided that they are segregated from male students (and when possible, professors), The Guardian notes that "if the high schools do not reopen for girls, the commitments to allow university education would become meaningless once the current cohort of students graduated."
Abdul Baqi Haqqani, the Higher Education Minister, said that all female students will be required to observe proper hijab, but did not specify if this required covering the face.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announced on 21 September that secondary school girls will return to school "as soon as possible", without offering a clear timeframe, claiming that the Taliban were "finalising" changes on education for girls, due to there being shortcomings with the previous system.
He did not mention any details about the problems of the previous education system.
Recognition and relations
Afghanistan's envoy to the United Nations has requested that the international community not recognise the new government.
The Taliban seeks such recognition, and it has not yet received this, other governments are engaging with it to an extent.
History
Factionalism
Since coming to power, there have been reports of factionalism and infighting among various camps of the Taliban concerning areas such as spoils of war, contributions to the Taliban insurgency, and political appointments in the new government.
Factions involved include both political moderates, religious fundamentalists, jihadists, and the Haqqani network.
See also
Government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (2021-present)
References
External links
