KABUL: The Ministry of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan officially registered The Afghanistan Social Democratic Party also well known as Afghan Mellat Party (Shams), with Eng. Ajmal Shams as the party head.
Eng. Ajmal Shams, son of Shamsul Huda Shams, is environmental engineer by profession and has obtained a master degree from USA. He has worked in Afghanistan, Pakistan and USA as a professional engineer. Alongside his profession, Ajmal Shams has been actively involved in party affairs since long. He is fluent in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu languages. Ajmal Shams understands national and global politics very well and has published articles in various newspapers and journals.
He has progressive and forward-looking views regarding the political future of Afghanistan. The party is highly optimistic about Ajmal Shams's leadership The party got its license to formally participate in political activities after a long wait of more than one and a half year. After the death of Afghan Mellat founding president Eng. Ghulam Mohammad Farhad back in 1984, the party had split into two main factions led by the Late Shamsul Huda shams and Mohammad Amin Wakman respectively.
Afghan Finance Minister Anwar Ul Haq Ahady currently leads the Wakman faction. While the shams faction elected Eng. Ajmal Shams as its new president after the demise of Shamsul Huda Shams in October 2005. Since the Ahady faction of Afghan Mellat Party had already got its registration from ministry of Justice under the name Afghan Social Democratic (Afghan Mellat) Party, the Shams Faction of Afghan Mellat, as per the new party law, had to slightly re-phrase its official name to avoid the legal conflict and to qualify for official recognition. Therefore the party supreme council unanimously agreed to rename the party as Afghanistan Social Democratic (Afghan Mellat National Progressive) Party.
However, the party is well known among Afghans as Afghan Mellat (Shams). Afghanistan Social Democratic Party has been carefully watching the political developments taking place in the country and its policy reflects the supreme national interests and the ground realities within the framework of global political horizon. Afghan Mellat Party particularly signifies its country's relations with the neighboring Pakistan whose role in combating the scourge of terrorism is critical.
The party believes that terrorism is as much a threat to Pakistan as it is to Afghanistan and the only way it can be prevented is through joint cooperation and harmony. Afghan Mellat Party does not agree that erecting fences along the border would be a viable solution to prevent cross-border insurgency.
Afghan Mellat Party believes in national unity among all ethnic groups living in Afghanistan and considers creating divisions among people along ethnic, linguistic and sectarian lines, a national betrayal. In line with its social democratic principles, the party has strong reservations regarding the prevailing economic situation in the country whereby a limited class of elites has emerged having accumulated huge wealth and riches while the majority of the country's population lives in abject poverty.
The party believes that economic disparity is one of the factors of prevailing violence in the country. The party strongly supports the government proposed initiative of dialogue with the insurgents for the sake of peace and the efforts to bring them into the mainstream. | 
Health
