page_title: Politics of Afghanistan
section_title: Presidency of Hamid Karzai
hierarchical_section_title: Politics of Afghanistan / Executive branch / Presidency of Hamid Karzai
caption_attribution_description: U.S. President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai appear together Wednesday, March 1, 2006, at a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afganistan.
context_page_description: The politics of Afghanistan consists of the cabinet of ministers, provincial governors and the national assembly, with a president serving as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Afghan Armed Forces. The nation is currently led by President Ashraf Ghani who is backed by two vice presidents, Amrullah Saleh and Sarwar Danish. In the last decade the politics of Afghanistan have been influenced by NATO countries, particularly the United States, in an effort to stabilise and democratise the country. In 2004, the nation's new constitution was adopted and an executive president was elected. The following year a general election to choose parliamentarians took place.
  Hamid Karzai was declared the first-ever democratically elected head of state in Afghanistan in 2004, winning a second five-year term in 2009. The National Assembly is Afghanistan's national legislature. It is a bicameral body, composed of the House of the People and the House of Elders. The first legislature was elected in 2005 and the current one in 2010. Members of the Supreme Court were appointed by the president to form the judiciary.
context_section_description: Hamid Karzai served as the Chairman of the Interim Administration from December 2001 to June 2002. He then served as the Interim President between June 2002 to October 2004. He officially became the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan after winning the 2004 presidential election.
caption: Then-U.S. President George W. Bush with Hamid Karzai in Kabul on March 1, 2006. United States-Afghanistan relations have improved since late 2001, especially after the Karzai administration was formed.
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