President of Afghanistan Information & President of Afghanistan Links at HealthHaven.com

President of the; Islamic Republic of Afghanistan;
	; Official Emblem;
	Incumbent; Hamid Karzai; since December 7, 2004
Style	His Excellency
Appointer	Direct popular vote
Term length	Five years
Inaugural holder	Mohammed Daoud Khan
Formation	July 17, 1973 (first republic)
Website	Office of the President

Afghanistan has only been a republic between 1973 to 1992 and from 2001 onwards. Before 1973 the state was always governed by a variety of kings, emirs or shahs. It was under the mujahideen and the Taliban regimes from 1992 to late 2001.

Mohammed Daoud Khan became the first president of Afghanistan in 1973, after he ended the monarchy of his cousin Mohammed Zahir Shah in a non-violent coupe. He was assissanted in 1978 by members of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan who chose Nur Muhammad Taraki as their president. During the 1980s and 90s the country was ruled by several different presidents, which included Hafizullah Amin, Babrak Karmal, Mohammad Najibullah, and Burhanuddin Rabbani among several others.Since December 22, 2001, Afghanistan is run by the Karzai administration under President Hamid Karzai.

The constitution of Afghanistan grants the president wide powers over military and legislative affairs, with a relatively weak national parliament. These were a subject of considerable controversy when debated by the country's loya jirga in December 2003. However, they were seen by the interim administration and its Western backers as being essential to securing the stability of Afghanistan.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Presidency of Afghanistan - The official website of the Office of the President of Afghanistan.