Parliamentary elections were held in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in August and September 1965. Members of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

were elected between 26 August and 7 September, and members of the House of the People elected between 10 and 26 September. Following the introduction of women's suffrage in the 1964 constitution, four women were elected to the House of People and two became members of the Senate.

Electoral system

The 215 members of the House of the People were elected using

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

in single-member constituencies. The 87 members of the Senate consisted of 29 appointed by the king, 29 directly elected and 29 elected by the provincial assemblies (one member from each

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

). The voting age was 20. Candidates for the House of the People were required to be at least 26 years old, and candidates for the Senate 31. In polling stations there was a voting box for each candidate with their photograph and symbol; voters placed their ballot paper in the box of the candidate they wished to vote for.

Campaign

Although the previous parliament had passed a law allowing for the creation of political parties, it had not been signed by the king. As a result, all candidates ran as independents. However, several unofficial parties ran candidates with beliefs ranging from fundamentalist Islam to far left.

Results

Turnout was very low, leading to the vocal predominance of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

's radicals. Four members of the PDPA were elected, although, only two were widely known as being PDPA members;

Babrak Karmal Babrak Karmal (Farsi/Pashto: , born Sultan Hussein; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Afghanistan, serving in the post of General Secretary of the People's Democratic Part ...

and Anahita Ratebzad, who were both elected in Kabul. Four women were elected; Roqia Abubakr and Anahita Ratebzad in Kabul,

Khadija Ahrari Khadija Ahrari was an Afghan politician, and jointly the first woman elected to parliament in the country. Biography Following the introduction of women's suffrage in the 1964 constitution, Ahrari was one of four women elected to Parliament i ...

in Herat and Masuma Esmati-Wardak in Kandahar. As the provincial assemblies were never convened, the Senate consisted only of the 29 members appointed by the king and the 29 directly elected members. Two of the appointed members – Aziza Gardizi and

Homeira Seljuqi Homeira Malikyar Seljuqi (1912–1990) was an Afghan politician. Alongside Aziza Gardizi, she was one of the first two female Senators nominated in 1965. Biography Seljuqi's father died when she was a young girl. After being sent to India for ...

– were women.

List of members

Aftermath

The newly elected parliament convened on 14 October. In a preliminary session the day before, Abdul Zahir was elected president of the House of the People. On the same day,

Abdul Hadi Dawi Abdul Hadi Dawi ( ps, عبدالهادي داوي 1894 - 1982) was an Afghan poet, diplomat and government official. His works were published under his pen name, Pareshan (worried). Biography Abdul Hadi Dawi was born to a Daavi Afghan family in ...

was appointed president of the Senate by the king.Dr. Zahir Hopes To Discharge Duties In People's Interest
''Kabul Times, 13 October 1965 Eleven days later dissident leftist students, dissatisfied with the newly appointed cabinet, disrupted the meetings and rioting ensued.

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Mohammad Yusuf resigned on 29 October and the king appointed

Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal ( fa, محمد هاشم میوندوال; 12 March 1921 – 1 October 1973) was an Afghan politician during the reign of Zahir Shah. Biography After graduating from high school, Mohammad Hashim became a journalist, edit ...

to form a cabinet, which was confirmed on 2 November.

References

{{Afghan elections Elections in Afghanistan

Parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

National Assembly (Afghanistan)