The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afghan parliamentary election, reduced to two seats in 1969, albeit both before parties were fully legal. For most of its existence, the party was split between the hardline Khalq and moderate Parcham factions, each of which claimed to represent the "true" PDPA.
The party originally followed leftist and Marxist–Leninist ideals. Despite its orientation, the party did not describe itself as "communist", instead using labels such as "national democratic" and "socialist". In its final years, the party gradually moved away from Marxism–Leninism and towards Afghan nationalism.
While a minority, the party helped Mohammad Daoud Khan, former Prime Minister of Afghanistan, overthrow King Mohammad Zahir Shah in 1973 and establish the Republic of Afghanistan. Initially the PDPA was highly represented in the government cabinet, but many PDPA officials were later dismissed as relations between the party and President Daoud Khan worsened. In 1978 the PDPA, with help from members of the Afghan National Army, seized power from Daoud Khan in what became known as the Saur Revolution. The PDPA led by Nur Muhammad Taraki established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan which would last until 1987. After National Reconciliation talks in 1987, the official name of the country was reverted back to the "Republic of Afghanistan" (as it was known prior to 1978). Under the leadership of Mohammad Najibullah in 1990, the party was renamed the Homeland Party (, ) and much of the party's symbols and policies were altered or removed. The republic lasted until 1992, when mujahideen rebels seized the capital Kabul and took over the country's government. The PDPA was subsequently dissolved, with some officials joining the new government, some joining militias, and others deserting.
History
Nur Mohammad Taraki started his political career as an Afghan journalist. On 1 January 1965, Taraki, with Babrak Karmal, established the Democratic People's Party of Afghanistan. In the beginning the party ran under the name People's Democratic Tendency, since secularist and anti-monarchist parties were illegal. The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was officially formed at the unity congress of the different factions of the Socialist Party of Afghanistan on 1 January 1965. Twenty-seven men gathered at Taraki's house in Kabul, elected Taraki as the first party Secretary General and Karmal as Deputy Secretary General, and chose a five-member Central Committee (also called a Politburo). Taraki was invited to Moscow by the International Department of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) later that year.
The PDPA was known in Afghan society at that time as having strong ties with the Soviet Union. Eventually, the PDPA was able to get three of its members into parliament, in the first free elections in Afghan history; these three parliamentarians were Karmal, Anahita Ratebzad, Nur Ahmed Nur. Later on, Taraki established the first radical newspaper in Afghan history under the name The Khalq; the newspaper was eventually forced to stop publishing by the government in 1966.
Khalqs and the Parchams
In 1967 the party divided into several political sects, the biggest being the Khalqs and the Parchams, as well as the Setami Milli and Grohi Kar. These new divisions started because of ideological and economic reasons. Most of Khalqs supporters came from ethnic Pashtuns from the rural areas in the country. The Parchams supporters mostly came from urban citizens who supported social-economic reforms in the country. The Khalqs accused the Parchams of allegiance to King Mohammed Zahir Shah because their newspaper, the Parcham, was tolerated by the king and published from March 1968 to July 1969.
Karmal sought, unsuccessfully, to persuade the PDPA Central Committee to censure Taraki's excessive radicalism. The vote, however, was close, and Taraki in turn tried to neutralize Karmal by appointing new members to the committee who were his own supporters. After this incident, Karmal offered his resignation, which was accepted by the Politburo. Although the split of the PDPA in 1967 into two groups was never publicly announced, Karmal brought with him less than half the members of the Central Committee.