Political Finance Database

Art. 35: The people of Afghanistan shall have the right in accordance with the provision of the law, to form political parties provided that:… 4. They shall not be affiliated with foreign political parties or resources. 

Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Coalitions: 28. Avoid accepting cash or in kind contribution from foreign or illegal internal sources

Candidates may not receive or accept financial contributions from foreign citizens or countries and/or political missions of foreign countries in Afghanistan and/or unknown sources. 

The candidates referred to in clause (1) of this article may not accept or receive financial assistance from foreign citizens or states and/or diplomatic missions of the foreign countries based in Afghanistan.

There is no ban on corporate donations- however there is a limit of two million Afghani per year for all legal persons. 

Political parties may receive income from the following sources: ... (b) Donations by legal persons up to two million Afghani per year. 

Corporate donations are not included in list of banned donations in Electoral Law

There is no specific mention on the ban of donations from trade unions to political parties.

There is no specific mention in the legislation regarding a ban on donations from trade unions.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant law.

Article 77 2) The candidates for the elected seats referred to in clause (1) of this article shall be obliged to accurately report to the Commission on their funding sources and limits and areas of expenses in their electoral campaigns.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant law.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant law.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant law.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant law.

Both the Election Law, Political Parties Law ban the use of state resources for and against any candidate. 

Use of any governmental assets, facilities and resources in favor or against a specific candidate is prohibited. 

The following acts shall be considered electoral violations: Use of government’s assets, facilities and resources in electoral campaigns;                                                         

The following acts are considered as electoral crimes:
Misuse of military tools and signs including of the army, police and national security for the purpose of frightening or influencing a voter, candidate and or
monitor and observer in favor of or against a candidate; […] 

Financial and commercial government organs, and the responsible officials heading those organs, shall not use their position to favour or to disadvantage any political party. No person may use public resources for the campaign of candidates unless equal resources are provided to all candidates by the government of Afghanistan.

Article 15
(1) Political parties may receive...
(b) Donations by legal persons up to two million Afghani per year

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant law.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant law.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant law.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant law.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant law.

There is no restriction on taking loan in relation to election campaign, however it is considered to be a donation and recorded in the presidential elections of 2019.     Taking a loan for use in a campaign is deemed financial contribution.  A loan must be recorded, which shall show the details of the lender, the amount of the loan and the terms of the loan.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant laws.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant laws.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant laws.

Art 15 (2)Political parties... "Political parties shall register all its income and deposit it in a bank account."

Art. 16 (2) In order to carry out its financial affairs, the leadership of the political party shall appoint one or more authorized representatives and introduce their signatures to the relevant bank.

Article 19: The commission has following duties and responsibilities:

Approval of procedure on the use of mass media and ensuring fair access of political parties, candidates and civil society to the state-owned mass media during the electoral campaign.

Article 78 (2) The state-owned mass media are obliged to publish and broadcast the opinions, aims, and manifestos of candidates in a fair and impartial manner, while taking into account the procedure of the Commission. However, there is no mention of political parties or

Political Parties Law 2005 permits the access to the media at the expense of the political party.   

The law does not specify what is meant by 'fair' media allocation.

Article 78

(1)In the course of the electoral campaign, television, radio, newspapers, publications and other mass media may disseminate and publish, in compliance with the procedures enacted by the Commission, the manifestoes, views and objectives of the candidates in a fair and impartial manner 

(2) The state-owned mass media are obliged to publish and broadcast the opinions, aims, and manifestos of candidates in a fair and impartial manner, while taking into account the procedure of the Commission. However, there is no mention of political parties orThe state-owned mass media are obliged to publish and broadcast the opinions, aims, and manifestos of candidates in a fair and impartial manner, while taking into account the procedure of the Commission.

10.2 Equal use of state-owned and public resources and facilities in favor of all candidates in accordance with the provisions of this law shall be an exception to this provision. 

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant laws.

There is no provision on this matter in the relevant laws.

Article 99: The following acts are considered as electoral crimes:

(2) Receiving or offering bribes for the purpose of exerting influence in the electoral processes;

(15) Buying and selling of the votes;

There is no legal provision for expenditure limit of political parties.

Article 77.1 the limits for expenses by the candidates of Presidential, Wolesi Jirga (House of the People), Provincial Councils, District Council, Village Council, Mayoral and Municipality Councils elections shall be determined taking into consideration the number of the persons eligible to vote, area and geographical location of the relevant electoral constituency, in accordance with procedures enacted by the Commission.

At present, the Taliban has dissoved the Electoral Commission.

Article 4

(15) Electoral Campaign: are the publicity activities, carried out by parties, coalition of political parties and or independent candidates for the purpose of garnering support and receiving votes of the voters.

There are no legal provisions related to this.

Article 14 The funds and expenses of political parties shall be public and transparent.

Article 15 (2) Political Parties Law requires  political parties to register all incomes and deposit them in a bank account.

Article 77 (2) The candidates for the elected seats referred to in clause (1) of this article shall be obliged to accurately report to the Commission on their funding sources and limits and areas of expenses in their electoral campaigns. (3) The candidates referred to in clause

Article 4: The funds and expenses of political parties shall be public and transparent.       

Political Parties Law and Election Law do not have any specific provision whether the identity of donor shall be revealed or not.

Political Parties Law and Election Law do not have any specific provision whether the identity of donor shall be revealed or not.

Political Parties Law and Election Law do not have any specific provision whether the identity of donor shall be revealed or not.

Independent Election Commission. 

Political Parties Law and Election Law do not have any specific provision concerning the institution(s) which receives financial reports of political parties.                     However, candidates submit their campaign finance reports to the Election Commission.          

[…]The candidates for the elected seats referred to in clause (1) of this article (77) shall be obliged to accurately report to the Commission on their funding sources and limits and areas of expenses in their electoral campaigns.  

Note: Currently, the Taliban has dissoved the Election Commission

Election Law of 2016 (Art. 28) establishes the Central Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) comprising of five member, for the purpose of addressing objections and complaints arising from negligence, violation and identification of crimes related to elections.                                                                                                  (1) The Commission publishes the reports of the candidates’ campaign financial affairs after uploading to the data base and reconciliations.
(2) Eligible voters, mass media, and observer and monitoring organizations may monitor the campaign events of the candidates and reconcile them with the reports presented by the candidates.

(3) If people, media and/or observer or monitoring organizations find that candidates have not reported to the Commission on some of their contributions, expenses and campaign activities, or have received contributions from illegal sources, or have breached the provisions of this regulation in a way, they may inform the Commission or the ECC of the matter in a document way.

(4) The monitors and observers may share their findings on the candidates’ campaign financial affairs with the Commission, the ECC and the Media Committee.       According to the Election Law (Art. 28)The Commission enacts an internal procedure on managing the financial affairs for managing the affairs related to division of duties of the financial affairs staff and the manner of activities of the Candidates’ Campaign Finance Management Section.   Besides (Art. 27), for the purpose of monitoring of reporting and fair and impartial broadcasting of the electoral campaigns and addressing the media violations that are in contradiction to the relevant objectives, policies and relevant procedures, a Media Committee  comprised of of three members, at least one of whom shall be a women, is established by the Commission, one month prior to the commencement of the candidates’ registration process.             Note: At present, the Taliban has disssolved the Electoral Commission

The Complaints Commission's powers are:

(1) Addressing instances of negligence and violation stated in this law is the duty of the Complaints Commission.

(2) The Complaints Commission investigate and identifies the crimes related to the electoral process;  refers the perpetrators to the relevant authorities for legal pursuit... and

(3)İmposing proper fines or similar monetary sanctions in case of violations.

The Media Committee may take one of the following decisions in case a media violation is verified:
1- Issue warning and order correction of the violation.

2- Impose and determine fine in accordance to the condition, from five thousand to one hundred thousand Afghanis.

3- Referral of the violator to the relevant competent authorities for legal prosecution, after approval of the complaints board.       

Refraining from timely reporting or providing false reports regarding financial affairs of electoral campaign shall pay a cash fine of ten thousand (10,000) up to thirty thousand (30,000) Afghanis; Spending in excess of the limit set by the procedure stated in Article 77 of this Law for electoral campaigns shall pay ten percent of the spending in excess of the set limit for electoral campaigns;  Conduct of any campaigns in favor or against a candidate by a government employee shall a cash fine of ten (10,000) Afghanis; and ) Use of government’s assets, facilities and resources in electoral campaigns shall pay an amount of fifty thousand (50,000) up to eighty thousand (80,000) Afghanis.

Election Law of 2016 (Art. 99.1 and 99.2) defines  the following election crimes and corresponding punishments: 1- Misuse of military tools and signs including of the army, police and national security ... in favor of or against a candidate shall be sentenced to short-term imprisonment of not less than three months.; 2- Receiving or offering bribes for the purpose of exerting influence in the electoral processes shall, in addition to being deprived of the rights under this law, be sentenced to 5 years in prison, the maximum short-term imprisonment.; […] 6- Receiving funding from illegal sources and  7- Receiving or accepting financial assistances in cash or in kind from foreign citizens or states or diplomatic missions of the foreign countries based in Afghanistan shall be sentenced to mid-term imprisonment of up to three years.; […] and 15- Buying and selling of the votes shall be sentenced to medium-term imprisonment of up to three years.;