Backgrounder: Afghan parliamentary election

According to the Constitution of Afghanistan, Afghan National Assembly consists of two houses: the Wolesi Jirga (House of People) and the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders).

The 249-seat Wolesi Jirga is the Lower House of the National Assembly, the members of which are directly elected by Afghan people with the term of five years. Each province represents a constituency of the Wolesi Jirga and elects a minimum of two members of it. The exact number of representatives elected from each province is based on population data for the province.

Afghans aged over 25 who have registered to the vote in the elections and who have not been convicted by a court, or been deprived of his or her civil rights, can be nominated as a candidate in the Wolesi Jirga elections.

The 102-seat Meshrano Jirga is the Upper House of the National Assembly. Members to the Meshrano Jirga, who should be over 35 years old, are indirectly elected or appointed representatives. Thirty-four of the representatives will be elected from each Provincial Council, 34 from the District Council, and 34 appointed by the president.

Provincial Council members to the Meshrano Jirga will be elected for a period of four years.

The Provincial Council elections will be held on Sunday at the same time as the Wolesi Jirga elections. The members will be elected directly from 34 provinces. Depending on different populations of different provinces, 9 to 29 will be elected from each to serve in the councils.

Registered Afghans over the age of 18 years who have not been convicted by a court, or been deprived of his or her civil rights, can be nominated as a candidate in the Provincial Council elections.

Each Provincial Council will elect one of its members to seat in the Meshrano Jirga by an absolute majority.

District Council elections have been postponed and will not be held in 2005. In this case, half of the seats of Meshrano Jirga will be vacant.

Source: Xinhua