Watan Party of Afghanistan

The Homeland Party of Afghanistan was a political party in Afghanistan. The party considered itself the successor to former President Mohammad Najibullah's ruling Watan Party which was banned following his overthrow in 1992. The party has described itself as "national and democratic, progressive and reformist".

History

The party was founded in exile during the time of the Taliban regime on 28 June 1997 in Munich, Germany, and has members inside the country where it is not officially registered. It considered itself a continuation of the leftist ideas of Mohammad Najibullah and his Watan Party, which was established in 1990 as the successor to the ruling People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. The Munich conference elected Muhammad Isa Jassur as the leader of the party. The party held its second congress in Frankfurt/Main in 2000.
On 28 July 2017, thousands attended an event at a Kabul hotel for the fourth "consultative gathering for a legal relaunch of Watan Party". In the past, the party has attempted to register under the PDPA name, but has been refused registration.

Ideology

The party does not identify with either the Khalq or Parcham. The Party has described itself as "national and democratic, progressive and reformist" and is against foreign interference in Afghanistan, particularly from the Pakistanis. At the party's second congress in November 2000, it declared all former PDPA leaders, including Babrak Karmal, and the officers linked to Dostum's anti-Najib 'coup' in 1992 'national traitors' and barred them from party membership.