Party Laws and Party Nationalization: A Critique of Afghan Political Party Laws
![handle is hein.journals/bologna4 and id is 292 raw text is:
https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2531-6133/10333
Party Laws and Party Nationalization:
a Critique of Afghan Political Party Laws
M. BASHIR MOBASHER t
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Introduction; 2. The Legal Approach to Party Development; 2.1. What's
Wrong with Ethnic Parties?; 2.2. Why an Implicit Approach to Party Nationalization?; 3. A New
Perspective on the Flawed Party Laws; 3.1. Lack of Interest in Party Development; 3.2. Command and
Control Rules; 3.3. Laws of Not the Emerging Coalitions; 4. Reforming Afghan Party Laws; 4.1.
Recognizing and Promoting the Emerging Coalitions; 4.2. Public Funding of Cross-ethnic Coalitions
and Parties; 5. Other Measures; 5.1. WJ Rules of Procedure and Parliamentary Parties and Coalitions;
5.2. Anti-Switching Provisions; 6. Conclusion.
ABSTRACT: Afghan party laws have consistently discouraged ethnic parties and politics.
Taking an implicit approach to party nationalization, the laws have set three qualification
thresholds for parties: consisting of at least 1o,ooo members; having offices in at least 20
provinces; and having at least 35 founders, who represent a minimum of 20 provinces.
Although these thresholds have not explicitly referred to the ethnic composition of
political parties, they were indeed designed to encourage broad-based parties given the
regional concentration of ethnic groups. Even so, these laws have failed to encourage
cross-ethnic parties or coalitions. Afghan parties have remained fragmented,
personalized, and ethnic-based. In fact, no cross-ethnic party has grown in Afghanistan.
Although some cross-ethnic coalitions have emerged during elections, they have failed to
institutionalize as stable and cohesive political forces. This paper shows that the failure of
laws to encourage cross-ethnic parties and coalitions has been due to their
command-and control nature (as compared to incentive-based) and the fact that the laws
have failed to set a regulatory framework for the cross-ethnic coalitions that have
emerged, particularly during the presidential elections.
KEYWORDS: Party Laws; Party Nationalization; Constitution; Institutionalization; Elections
UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA LAW REVIEW
ISSN 2531-6133
[VOL.4:2 2019]
283
ARTICLES & ESSAYS](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/bologna4&div=13&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Party Laws and Party Nationalization: A Critique of Afghan Political Party Laws
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