Note also the House of Elders of Somaliland

House of Elders of Somaliland

The Parliament of Somaliland has two chambers. The upper house is the House of Elders . It has 82 members, representing traditional leaders.Suleiman Mahmud Adam is the Speaker of the House of Elders of Somaliland....

Mesherano Jirga or the House of Elders, is the upper house

Upper house

An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...

 of the bicameral National Assembly

National Assembly of Afghanistan

The National Assembly is Afghanistan's national legislature. It is a bicameral body, comprising two chambers:*Wolesi Jirga or the House of the People: the 250-member lower house.*Meshrano Jirga ) or the House of Elders: an upper house with 102 seats....

 of Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, alongside the Wolesi Jirga ("people's assembly" or lower house, the main legislature).

It has 102 members. One-third of it (34) are elected by district councils (one per province) for 3-year terms, one-third (34) by provincial councils (one per province) for 4-year terms, and one-third (34) are nominated by the president for 5-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 are held. Half of the presidential nominees have to be women, two representatives from the disabled and impaired

Physical disability

A physical disability is any impairment which limits the physical function of one or more limbs or fine or gross motor ability. Other physical disabilities include impairments which limit other facets of daily living, such as respiratory disorders and epilepsy....

 and two from the Kuchis

Kuchis

Kuchis , are Afghan Pashtun nomads, primarily from the Ghilzai, Kakar, Lodi, Ahmadzai as well as some Durrani tribes, but occasionally there may also be some Baloch people among them that live a nomadic life travelling between pastoral lands in Afghanistan and in Pakistan...

.

This house forms more of an advisory role rather than a maker of law. Still, the house has some veto power.

Reserved seats for female MP's

Having been absent from the decision-making process for centuries, Afghan women for the first time entered the political arena in 2001, after the overthrow of Taliban. With the introduction of reserved seats provision in the 2002 Emergency Loya Jirga, when 10% of 1600 seats were reserved for women, the ground was laid for participation of Afghan women in parliament.

The new 2004 constitution secured reserved seats for women and minorities in both houses of parliament. In the 2005 parliamentarian elections, Afghan women won 89 seats. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in 2009 they are holding 67 seats (27.7%) in Wolesi Jirga (lower house) and 22 (21.6%) in Meshrano Jirga (upper house). This representation is above the worldwide average of 18.5% and above the average of the United States at 16.8% for the House and 15.4% for the Senate.

Members of Meshrano Jirga

incumbent	nature of term	notes
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi Sibghatullah Mojaddedi Sibghatullah Mojaddedi , served as the first President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan after the fall of the communist regime in 1992. He is also the leader of the Afghan National Liberation Front...
Sayed Hamed Gailani
Burhanullah Shinwari Burhanullah Shinwari Burhanullah Shinwari is the deputy chairman of the upper house of Afghanistan's legislature.In July 2008 he led a delegation of legislators to investigate the Deh Bala wedding party bombing, an incident where American helicopter fired on a wedding party, killing 47, mostly women and...
Aminuddin Mozafari
Abdul Khaliq Hussaini Abdul Khaliq Hussaini Abdul Khaliq Hussaini is a member of the Meshrano Jirga, the upper house of Afghanistan's National Assembly, for Laghman Province.Prior to becoming a member of the Mehrano Jirga he was a teacher and school principal....
Mohammed Fahim Mohammed Fahim Mohammad Qasim Fahim is an Afghan military commander, politician and the First Vice President since November 2009. He was the Defense Minister of the Afghan Transitional Administration, beginning in 2002 and also served as Vice President from June 2002 to December 2004...
Ahmadshah Ramazan
Arsalan Rahmani
Bakhtar Aminzai
Bilqis Kochi
Torday Akhon
Qazi Soraya Ahmadyar
Homayrah Nemati
Hyatullah
Khadim Hussain Khodayar
Khan Mohammad Khagy
Khadija Husseini
Khairo Jan
Raz Muhammad
Roshan Arah Alkozai
Ryda Azimi
Zalmay
Sarah Sorkhabi
Sakhy Moshwani
Amer Sahedullah
Qazi Sahedullah Aboaman
Peer Sayed Ibrahim Gylani
Sultan Jan Khaksar
Suliman Yari
Samih Jan Shirzada
Sohilah Sharifi
Sayed Hamed Agha
Sayed Dawood Nasseri
Sayed Saleh Muhammad Saleh
Abdul Basir Ahmadi
Mullah Sayed Muhammad Akhund
Sayed Muhammad Mohsen
Shah Bi Bi
Wakeel Shah Nawaz
Sheer Mohammad Akhundzada
Sheer Muhammad Nooristani
Sabir Khan Sabir Khan Sabir Khan is an Indian sarangi player. He belongs to Sikar gharana of music who have given several stalwarts to Indian classical music.-Early life:...
Sediqah Balkhi
Safar Muhammad Kakar
Tayba Zahedi
Hallya Qazizada Qardash
Ebadullah Naqshbandi
Abdulahmad Zahdi
Abdul Baqi Baryal
Abdul Hafiz Zahir
Abdul Hameed Aimaq
Qazi Abdul Hay Khadim
AbdulRahman Hakimi
Abdul Satar
Ostad Abdul Sabor Farid
Abdul Qader Dostum
Abdullah Haqani
Abdul Wali Ahmadzai
Attahullah
Abdul Wahed Karizwal
Ghulam Farooq Farahi
Fazel Karim Mohammadi
Faqeer Muhammad
Qurban Ali Orfani
Qamer Khosti
Kubra Aman
Kubra Mostafawoi
Gongarem
Mahbob Khan
Mahboba Hoqoqmal
Mohtrama Habibi
Moslema Hussaini
Muhammad Afzal Ahmadzai
Muhammad Akbar Wahedat
Muhammad Anwar Muradi
Muhammad Baqir Sharifi
Muhammad Hassan Hotak
Muhammad Hassan Qazizada
Muhammad Hanif Hanifi
Muhammad Rangin Moshkwani
Muhammad Zaman Mohebi Bahlol
Muhammad Harif Sarwari
Muhammad Halam Eizedyar
Muhammad Omar Shirzad
Muhammad Omar Asim
Muhammad Eysa Khan Shinwari
Muhammad Kabir Marzban
Muhammad Naser Attahy
Muhammad Hashim Ortaq Muhammad Hashim Ortaq Engineer Muhammad Hashim Ortaq entered the Meshrano Jirga, the upper house of Afghanistan's National Assembly in 2005.He represents Faryab Province.He is a member of Junbish-e-Milli.He has an engineering degree from Kabul University....
Muhammad Yunos Sheerin Agha
Khwaja Mahmmood Rashed
Mokaram Khan Nasseri
Mirbat Khan Mangal
Najeebah Hussaini
Najeebah Rokhshani Baloch
Nasereen Parsah
Nazar Muhammad
Nafas Gul Khedmat
Nafisa Sultani
Noorullah Mehmar
Kafeel Noor Muhammad
Wakeel Muhammad Laiq
Hedayetullah Rehay