AfghanistanThe Afghan constitution of 1964 granted univer-
sal suffrage; however, political parties were not
allowed. Prior to the constitution power was firmly
held by the political elite associated with the royal
family. Conservative social norms and limited
access to education minimized the participation of
women. In Kabul, urban women in the education
sector and in women’s organizations exercised
political influence. Women were elected to parlia-
ment and in 1965 the first woman cabinet member
was appointed.
In 1978 the People’s Democratic Party of Af-
ghanistan (PDPA) seized power and implemented
radical social reform in which the emancipation of
women figured prominently. The communist PDPA
welcomed the active participation of women, advo-
cated the equality of the sexes, and sought to inte-
grate women into the government and society at all
levels.
Civil war created a large refugee population, pri-
marily in Pakistan and Iran. The resistance organ-
ized itself into seven main political parties ranging
from conservative Islamic fundamentalists to more
moderate and liberal elements. Women played
advocacy roles for the resistance and women’s
rights in a number of these parties but the majority
of these groups wished to limit women to tradi-
tional roles.
The fall of the communist regime in 1991
resulted in a power struggle that led to continued
civil war. In 1996, the reactionary Taliban regime
gained power and banned the education of girls
and confined women to the home. With the fall of
the Taliban, the internationally brokered Bonn
agreement in December of 2001 set forth a plan for
the re-establishment of a permanent government in
Afghanistan. The plan ensured the participation of
women in this process. Political parties were legal-
ized in September 2003; however, they remain
highly localized and are predominantly Kabul
based. The participation of Afghan women in the
political process has met resistance but interna-
tional insistence and support from the Afghan
Interim Authority has allowed women election del-
egates and resulted in women being appointed to
key commissions and cabinet positions. At the
recent Constitutional Loya Jirga (December 2003),
Political Parties and Participation
25 percent of the delegates were women. They
protested at their lack of representation in the
council’s leadership positions and were promptly
granted a deputy and two assistants.
Urban Afghan women are deeply committed to
participating in politics, while women outside the
capital remain marginalized in traditional roles.
Whatever the outcome of the unfolding political
situation in Afghanistan, women will continue to
make their voices heard.Bibliography
L. Dupree, Afghanistan, Princeton, N.J. 1973, 1980^3.
B. R. Rubin, The fragmentation of Afghanistan. State for-
mation and collapse in the international system, New
Haven, Conn. 1995, 2002^2.Mark David LuceArabian PeninsulaOverview
In the early 2000s, the seven states of the Arabian
Peninsula (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen) showed dif-
ferent degrees of popular political participation for
men and women. Only the Republic of Yemen was
equipped with a multi-party system and universal
suffrage when it was established in May 1990.
Political parties remained banned in all six Gulf
monarchies. In five of them, however, the concept
of elections have become gradually accepted as part
of the political process.
In those four peninsula states where women were
allowed to vote and stand for elections (Bahrain,
Oman, Qatar, Yemen) they (re-)obtained these
rights only in recent decades or even in recent years.
However, on election day female candidates could
not count on the support of the rising numbers of
female voters and were elected to a parliament or a
consultative council only in urban coastal centers
(Yemen: Aden and Mukalla, Oman: Muscat).
While women participated in shaping public opin-
ion to a considerable degree and were prominent in
civil society, they remained highly underrepre-
sented in official positions all over the Arabian
Peninsula. Even though in some countries women
were appointed ministers they did not head min-
istries of strategic importance. In Yemen Wahìba