House of Elders (Afghanistan)

The House of Elders or Mesherano Jirga (Pashto: د افغانستان مشرانو جرګه), was the upper house of the bicameral National Assembly of Afghanistan, alongside the lower House of the People (Wolesi Jirga). It was effectively dissolved when the Taliban seized power on 15 August 2021.^[2] The Taliban did not include the House of Elders and several other agencies of the former government in its first national budget in May 2022. Government spokesman Innamullah Samangani said that due to the financial crisis, only active agencies were included in the budget, and the excluded ones had been dissolved, but noted they could be brought back "if needed."^[3]

House of Elders مشرانو جرگه
Type
Type	Upper house of the National Assembly
History
Founded	1931[1]
Disbanded	15 August 2021
Structure
Seats	102 members
Authority	advisory and limited veto power; no law-making power
Elections
Voting system	One-third by district councils, One-third by provincial councils, One third nominated by the president
Meeting place
Kabul
Website
mj.parliament.af (dead) (15 August 2021 archive)

The House of Elders primarily had an advisory role rather than a maker of law.^{[citation needed]} However, it does have some veto power.^{[citation needed]}

The House of Elders has 102 members. One-third (34) were elected by district councils (one per province) for three-year terms, one-third (34) by provincial councils (one per province) for four-year terms, and one-third (34) were nominated by the president for five-year terms. However, elections for the district councils were not held in the 2005 parliamentary elections. As such, each provincial council also selected one of its elected members to temporarily hold seats in the house until district council elections were held. Half of the presidential nominees had to be women, two representatives from the disabled and impaired and two from the Kuchis.^[4]