Word: jirga
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Dates: during 1965-1965
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...Yusuf, was appointed Prime Minister; his main job was to oversee the drafting of a new constitution. What evolved is a document that brings the criminal code into the 20th century and forbids members of the royal family to serve in either the Cabinet or the 216-seat Wolesi Jirga (People's Council or Parliament). Though the King may veto laws, the Parliament can overrule him with a two-thirds majority. By contrast, Zahir Shah's father in 1931 hamstrung the legislature, demanding that the King be mentioned in Friday prayers at the mosque, and hewed closely...
Elections & Flowers. Most important, the new constitution provided for fresh elections. When they were held last September, every seat in the Wolesi Jirga was contested-in some cases by as many as twelve candidates-and 45% of Afghanistan's eligible voters (everybody above 20) turned out. The resulting legislature included the widest array ever of Afghans: from doctors to shepherds, from liberal lawyers to ultra-conservative mullahs (Moslem teachers), as well as four women and six former political prisoners...
...reform-minded for Mohammed Yusuf. The new legislature whipped up unproved charges of corruption against his regime, and Kabul's high school and university students followed up with a sit-in in the Wolesi Jirga, demanding Yusuf's ouster. Street demonstrations followed, and the police fired into the crowd, killing at least three. The King secured Yusuf's resignation and in his place appointed Mohammed Hashim Maiwandwal, 46, a lanky, Lincolnesque liberal who was born in a three-room mud hut and rose to prominence as Afghanistan's ambassador to Washington, London and Karachi. Maiwandwal quickly...