National Revolutionary Party (
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
: حزب انقلاب ملی ''Hezb Enqilab Mile'') was a political party in the
Republic of Afghanistan
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
. The party was founded in 1974 by President
Mohammed Daoud Khan
Mohammed Daoud Khan ( ps, ), also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan (18 July 1909 – 28 April 1978), was an Afghan politician and general who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup ...
, who had seized control of Afghanistan from his first cousin, King
Mohammed Zahir Shah
Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan s ...
, in the bloodless
1973 coup d'état.
The party was formed in an attempt by Daoud to garner support and grassroots backing for his republican regime. Daoud also intended the party to undermine support in Afghanistan for the
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), ''Hezb-e dimūkrātĩk-e khalq-e Afghānistān'' was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afgha ...
, who had actually helped him come to power in 1973. To this end, the party sought to be an umbrella organization for all of the factions of the
progressive movement in Afghanistan. In order to help the party in its attempt to garner support, all other political parties were banned.
The party was run by a central committee which comprised Major General
Ghulam Haidar Rasuli
Major General Ghulam Haidar Rasuli (1919 – 28 April 1978) was born in Rostaq, Takhar Province, Afghanistan and a supporter of Mohammed Daoud Khan, who came out of retirement after the 1973 coup which removed King Zahir Shah and put Daoud in pow ...
, Defense Minister Sayyid Abd Ullah, Finance Minister Abd Ul Majid, and Professor Abd Ul Quyyum.
The party did not survive the
Saur Revolution
The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution ( ps, د ثور انقلاب; prs, إنقلاب ثور), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ...
in April 1978, which saw the overthrow and death of Daoud and his family, and the rise to power of the communist
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), ''Hezb-e dimūkrātĩk-e khalq-e Afghānistān'' was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afgha ...
.
References
Banned political parties
Defunct political parties in Afghanistan
Nationalist parties in Afghanistan
Parties of one-party systems
Pashtun nationalism
Republican parties
Secularism in Afghanistan
Political parties in Afghanistan
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