Afghan Constitutions

Click on the Links provided below -- We Have the original Text of Afghan Constitutions

Item Link Brief Description
1 The 1964 Constitution of King Zaher Shah On March 9-1963, Sardar Mohammad Daoud, the Prime Minister of Afghanistan resigned from his post, which he had held for ten years.


Immediately after Mohammad Daoud's resignation, M. Zahir Shah, the King of Afghanistan, appointed a caretaker government headed by Dr. Mohammad Yosuf. One of the most important achievements of Dr. Yosuf's interim government was the promulgation of a new constitution, which was approved by an Afghan Loya Jirga on Sept-19-1964.


The liberalized Afghan Constitution of 1964, which put Afghanistan on the road to democracy has been called as "one of the finest in the Muslim world" by some scholars. The ten years that followed the promulgation of the new constitution, is known as the "Decade of Democracy", "New Era", or "the
Constitutional Period" in the Afghan history.

2 The 1976 Constitution of President Daud On July-17-1973, Mohammdad Daoud, the Prime Minister of Afghanistan  (1953-1963), overthrew his cousin, King Mohammad Zahir Shah, in a bloodless military coup d'ι·tat.

On the following day, he announced the dissolving of the Afghan Parliament and the 1964 Constitution. Monarchy was abolished and The Kingdom of Afghanistan became the Republic of Afghanistan. Thus, after ten years of absence, Mohammad Daoud became the first President of Afghanistan.

One of the first tasks of the new government was the formation of a commission to draft a new constitution for the new republic. By early 1976, the draft of the constitution was submitted to a yet larger and more authoritative 20 members commission. After four months of review, the constitution was ready for deliberations in a Loya Jirga, which was called for by President Daoud. After fifteen days of deliberations, the Loya Jirga approved the 13 Sections and 136 Articles of the new constitution for the Republic of Afghanistan.

3 Communist Era Constitution Immediately after the coup of 27 April 1978 (the Saur Revolution), the 1977 Constitution was abolished. Both Nur Muhammad Taraki (Head of State from April 1988 to September 1979) and his successor, Hafizullah Amin (September-December 1079), promised to introduce new constitutions, but these leaders were removed from power before any drafts had been prepared by special commissions which they had appointed. On 21 April 1980 the Revolutionary Council ratified the Basic Principles of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. These were superseded by a new Constitution ratified in April 1985. Another new Constitution was ratified during a meeting of a Loya Jirgah (Supreme National Tribal Assembly), held on 29-30 November 1087. This Constitution was amended in May 1990. The following is a summary of the Constitution as it stood in May 1990.
4 The Constitution of King Nader Shah Afghan Studies need a volunteer to write a brief introduction into the history of this constitution. Please contact us at editor@afghan-politics.org if you are interested.  
5 The Constitution of King Amanullah Afghan Studies need a volunteer to write a brief introduction into the history of this constitution. Please contact us at editor@afghan-politics.org if you are interested.