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Afghan leaders who met at the December 2001 Bonn Conference which picked Hamid Karzai to lead the Afghan Transitional Authority also agreed that a Constitutional Loya Jirga should be convened to draft a new constitution.

The Emergency Loya Jirga of 2002 set up an Afghan Constitutional Commission, of 35 members, which sat from October 2002 until March 2003, prior to submitting their draft to President Karzai. That draft was made public in November 2003.

502 delegates were selected, via regional caucuses, to participate in the Constitutional Loya Jirga to debate, amend the draft. In her thesis at the Naval Postgraduate School Zoe Sherman described the composition of the Constitutional Loya Jirga of 2002 as being unlike any previous Loya Jirga.

Ten committees were formed, each assigned to review specific articles. The Constitutional Loya Jirga sat from December 13, 2003, to January 4, 2004.

Committee One: 45 articles, chaired by Ustad Rabani

Committee Two: 27 articles, chaired by Ustad Sayaf

Committee Three: 21 articles, chaired by Ahmad Nabi Muhammadi

Committee Four: 38 articles, chaired by Mohammad Tahir

Committee Five: 35 articles, chaired by Ayatullah Muhsini

Committee Six: 22 articles, chaired by Maulowi Gul Muhammad

Committee Seven: 40 articles, chaired by Dr. Mashahed

Committee Eight: 46 articles, chaired by Ustad Farid

Committee Nine: 36 articles, chaired by Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai

Committee Ten: 29 articles, chaired by Maulowi Syd Muhammad Hanif

References

1. "Agreement on provisional arrangements in Afghanistan pending the re-establishment of permanent government institutions". United Nations. 2001-12-05. Archived from the original on 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
2. ^ Kenneth Katzmann (2004-12-28). "Afghanistan: Post-War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 2012-04-16. After the close of the 2002 emergency loya jirga, the Afghan government began drafting a permanent constitution. A 35-member constitutional commission, appointed in October 2002, presented a draft to Karzai in March 2003, but it was not publicly unveiled until November 2003. It was debated by 502 delegates, selected in U.N.-run caucuses, at a "constitutional loya jirga (CLJ)" during December 13, 2003 until January 4, 2004.
3. Zoe Bernadette Sherman (March 2006). "Afghanistan's constitutions: a comparative study and their implications for Afghan democratic development" (PDF). Naval Postgraduate School. p. 68. Retrieved 2012-04-16. The election that took place produced a body of 19,000 Afghan citizens, elected from all provinces, and organized into an electoral college in order to vote for 408 of the 502 member Constitutional Loya Jirga. The Constitutional Loya Jirga that took place on 14 Decemb 2003 was unlike any of its predecessors. The electoral college subsequently voted for 344 men and 64 women as provincial representatives. President Karzai then appointed 50 men and women of equal proportion. Finally, the remaining 42 people were chosen to represent various minority groups including 24 refugee representatives, 9 nomads, 6 for internally displaced people (IDP), and 3 to represent the Hindu and Sikh minorities. Criticism surrounding the membership of the CLJ and subsequent review process of the constitution included the formation of alliances or factions.
4. ^ "Members of the afghan constitutional loya jirga". 2003-12-23. Archived from the original on 2011-05-08. Retrieved 2011-01-25.

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