Abdullah Athayi
according to the ideological foundation of the new regime. After the international
intervention in Afghanistan after 2001, it was many years before the parliament was
reinstalled. Since the formation of a parliament in 2005, two rounds of legislation were held
in which the parliament was overloaded with thousands of laws, agreements and treaties. So
far, parliament has not been able to prioritise the law on citizenship.
During the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the National Unity Government
held on 13 May 2015, President Ashraf Ghani assigned the Ministry of Justice the task of
amending the law on citizenship.23 The legislative commission of the Ministry of Justice held
several meetings in which various laws on citizenship were investigated, including the
previous one and international conventions,24 in order to improve the process of drafting a
new law on citizenship. The bill will need to pass through a lengthy legislation process,
meaning that the draft law will be sent to the legal commission of the Council of Ministers,
which will discuss the content of the law and present it to the meeting of the Council of
Ministers to obtain the opinions of cabinet members and thereby enrich the law. After
approval by the cabinet members, the bill will be sent to parliament, where representatives of
the people will discuss the law in both a specialised commission and other non-specialised
commissions. The law will finally need to be approved during plenary sessions of the Wolosi
Jirga (House of Representatives) and the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders). It will then
return to the presidential palace for signature and will subsequently be sent to the Ministry of
Justice for publication in the Official Gazette.
There are no major innovations in the draft law on citizenship except Article 9, which
regulates dual nationality. As explained above, dual nationality of Afghan citizens who
obtain senior positions in government is a contentious issue in Afghanistan. The Ministry of
Justice, however, makes the acquisition and loss of citizenship very simple in order to
prevent multiple citizenship, but it does not compel Afghan-foreign citizens to renounce their
foreign citizenship if they are interested in working in or obtaining any position in
government. The draft law on citizenship does not provide a concrete solution for Afghans
holding dual citizenship. Article 9 of the draft law stipulates that “Afghan citizens who obtain
the citizenship of another country can abandon their Afghan citizenship.” The law also
obliges Afghan citizens who obtain the citizenship of another country to submit an
application to renounce their Afghan citizenship to an embassy or consulate abroad or to
relevant sections of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Afghanistan. Clause 3 of Article 9 of
the draft law on citizenship provides the means for the re-acquisition of citizenship of
Afghanistan and stipulates that “A person who according to the orders of this law abandons
the citizenship of Afghanistan can apply for re-acquisition of the citizenship of Afghanistan.”
Honorary citizenship granted to foreign citizens who make donations in the public interest or
serve the Afghan people will probably be the most important focus of discussions in the
legislation cycles.
23
http://aop.gov.af/english/1699/Islamic+Republic+of+Afghanistan%E2%80%99s+Cabinet+Meeting+Report+o
n+13+May+2015.
24
Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws; Convention on Elimination of
all Forms of Discrimination against Women; Convention on the Rights of the Child; Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, Convention on Citizenship of Married Women; Convention on Certain Questions relating to the
conflict of Nationality Laws.
16
RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/9 - © 2017 Author
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