ffairs)

National holiday: Independence Day, 19 August (1919)

Constitution: the Bonn Agreement calls for a Constitutional Loya Jirga
(Grand Council) to be convened within 18 months of the establishment of
the Transitional Authority to draft a new constitution for the country;
the basis for the next constitution is the 1963/64 Constitution, according
to the Bonn Agreement

Legal system: the Bonn Agreement calls for a judicial commission
to rebuild the justice system in accordance with Islamic principles,
international standards, the rule of law, and Afghan legal traditions

Suffrage: NA; previously males 15-50 years of age

Executive branch: note: following the Taliban's refusal to hand over
Usama bin LADIN to the US for his suspected involvement in the 11
September 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, a US-led international
coalition was formed; after several weeks of aerial bombardment by
coalition forces and military action on the ground, including Afghan
opposition forces, the Taliban was ousted from power on 17 November 2001;
in December 2001 a number of prominent Afghans met under UN auspices in
Bonn, Germany, to decide on a plan for governing the country; as a result,
the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) - made up of 30 members, headed by a
chairman and five deputy chairmen - was inaugurated on 22 December 2001
with about a six-month mandate to be followed by a two-year Transitional
Authority (TA) after which elections are to be held; the structure of
the follow-on TA will be announced on 10 June 2002 when the Loya Jirga
(grand assembly) is convened chief of state: Chairman of the AIA, Hamad
KARZAI (since 22 December 2001); note - presently the chairman is both
chief of state and head of government head of government: Chairman of
the AIA, Hamad KARZAI (since 22 December 2001); note - presently the
chairman is both chief of state and head of government cabinet: the
30-member AIA elections: NA

Legislative branch: nonfunctioning as of June 1993

Judicial branch: the Bonn Agreement calls for the establishment of a
Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders: NA; note - political parties in
Afghanistan are in flux and many prominent players have plans to create
new parties; the three main groups represented in the Afghan Interim
Authority (AIA) are: the Northern Alliance (also known as the United
Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan) - the main opposition to
the Taliban - composed of different