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Afghan National Party (Afghanistan)

Afghan Mellat

Last modified: 2008-08-09 by ian macdonald
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Description

The Afghan Nation (in Pashto, Afghan Mellat) party was founded in March 1966 by Ghulam Mohammad Farhad (1901-1984; Mayor of Kabul from 1948 to 1954 and MP from 1968 to 1970), as the Afghan Social Democratic Party. After the April 1978 revolution, the party was banned and set up its headquarters in Pakistan. In the 1980s, the party split into two main factions named after their respective leaders, Shams and Wakman.

Quoting Azadi Radio:
"Officially formed in the mid-1960s under the name Afghan Social Democratic Party, this political formation has undergone major changes that include factional splits. The party was originally steeped in Pashtun nationalism and favored the formation of a "Greater Afghanistan" that would include Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. Ahadi was chosen to lead Afghan Nation in 1995, and the party has since distanced itself from its early doctrine but still favors increased rights for Pashtuns - especially promoting the Pashto language. Afghan Nation backed Hamid Karzai's presidential bid. Party leader Ahadi now serves as Karzai's Finance Minister; his father-in-law, Sayyed Ahmad Gailani, heads the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan."
http://www.azadiradio.org/en/specials/elections/parties.asp

The other faction was officially registered as a party in May 2007, as reported by "The PakTribune", 28 May 2007:
"The Ministry of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan officially registered The Afghanistan Social Democratic Party also well known as Afghan Mellat Party (Shams), with Engineer Ajmal Shams as the party head. [...] After the death of Afghan Mellat founding president Engineer Ghulam Mohammad Farhad back in 1984, the party had split into two main factions led by the late Shamsul Huda Shams and Mohammad Amin Wakman, respectively. Afghan Finance Minister Anwar Ul Haq Ahady currently leads the Wakman faction, while the Shams faction elected Engineer Ajmal Shams as its new president after the demise of Shamsul Huda Shams in October 2005. Since the Ahady faction of Afghan Mellat Party had already got its registration from Ministry of Justice under the name Afghan Social Democratic (Afghan Mellat) Party, the Shams Faction of Afghan Mellat, as per the new party law, had to slightly re-phrase its official name to avoid the legal conflict and to qualify for official recognition. Therefore the party supreme council unanimously agreed to rename the party as Afghanistan Social Democratic (Afghan Mellat National Progressive) Party. However, the party is well known among Afghans as Afghan Mellat (Shams). [...]"
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?179425

The Afghan Mellat (Wakman / Ahadi) websites show photographs of political meetings. The stand is flanked with the Afghan national flag and the party flag, light blue with the party emblem, in white or yellow:
http://www.afghanmellat.org/phtoto_gallary_page.htm - Afghan website, photo gallery (direct link to the images, http://www.afghanmellat.org/photographs/i.jpg and http://www.afghanmellat.org/photographs/muzahira_peshawar5.jpg
http://www.afghanmellat.de/Bildergalerie.htm - German website, photo gallery (direct link to the image, http://www.afghanmellat.de/fotos/farooq.jpg)

The party emblem is shown, on a light blue background, on the top of the front page of the German website, as made of a raptor holding a vertical sword in its mouth. The writing on the bird most probably reads "Mellat", while the longer writing below the bird might be the long name of the party. The short writing is visible on the flag photography, while the shorter is masked by the flag folds.

The website of the Afghan Mellat (Shams) party shows a black and white emblem, completely different from the emblem of the Afghan Mellat (Wakman / Ahadi) website.
http://www.afghanmillat.org

Ivan Sache, 18 July 2008