Independence: 19 August 1919 (from UK control over Afghan foreign affairs)
National holiday: Victory of the Muslim Nation, 28 April; Remembrance
Day for Martyrs and Disabled, 4 May; Independence Day, 19 August
Constitution: none
Legal system: a new legal system has not been adopted but all factions tacitly agree they will follow Shari'a (Islamic law)
Suffrage: undetermined; previously males 15-50 years of age
Executive branch: on 27 September 1996, the ruling members of the Afghan Government were displaced by members of the Islamic Taliban movement; the Islamic State of Afghanistan has no functioning government at this time, and the country remains divided among fighting factions note: the Taliban have declared themselves the legitimate government of Afghanistan; the UN has deferred a decision on credentials and the Organization of the Islamic Conference has left the Afghan seat vacant until the question of legitimacy can be resolved through negotiations among the warring factions; the country is essentially divided along ethnic lines; the Taliban controls the capital of Kabul and approximately two-thirds of the country including the predominately ethnic Pashtun areas in southern Afghanistan; opposing factions have their stronghold in the ethnically diverse north-General DOSTAM's National Islamic Movement controls several northcentral provinces and Commander MASOOD controls the ethnic Tajik majority areas of the northeast
Legislative branch: non-functioning as of June 1993
Judicial branch: non-functioning as of March 1995, although there are local Shari'a (Islamic law) courts throughout the country
Political parties and leaders: Taliban (Religious Students Movement),
Mohammad OMAR; United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
[comprised of Jumbesh-i-Melli Islami (National Islamic Movement),
Abdul Rashid DOSTAM; Jamiat-i-Islami (Islamic Society), Burhanuddin
RABBANI and Ahmad Shah MASOOD; and Hizbi Wahdat-Khalili faction
(Islamic Unity Party), Abdul Karim KHALILI]; other smaller parties are
Hizbi Islami-Gulbuddin (Islamic Party), Gulbuddin HIKMATYAR faction;
Hizbi Islami-Khalis (Islamic Party), Yunis KHALIS faction;
Ittihad-i-Islami Barai Azadi Afghanistan (Islamic Union for the
Liberation of Afghanistan), Abdul Rasul SAYYAF;
Harakat-Inqilab-i-Islami (Islamic Revolutionary Movement), Mohammad
Nabi MOHAMMADI; Jabha-i-Najat-i-Milli Afghanistan (Afghanistan
National Liberation Front), Sibghatullah MOJADDEDI;
Mahaz-i-Milli-Islami (National Islamic Front), Sayed Ahamad GAILANI;
Hizbi Wahdat-Akbari faction (Islamic Unity Party), Mohammad Akbar
AKBARI; Harakat-i-Islami (Islamic Movement), Mohammed Asif MOHSENI
Political pressure groups and leaders: tribal elders represent
traditional Pashtun leadership; Afghan refugees in Pakistan,
Australia, US, and elsewhere have organized politically; Peshawar,
Pakistan-based groups such as the Coordination Council for National
Unity and Understanding in Afghanistan (CUNUA), Ishaq GAILANI; Writers
Union of Free Afghanistan (WUFA), A. Rasul AMIN; Mellat (Social
Democratic Party), leader NA