Following the fall of the Taliban regime, Afghan representatives of military forces, ethnic groups, expatriate Afghans and representatives of the exiled monarch met in Bonn (Germany) and initiated an intensive process of negotiations. Those consultations resulted in the “Agreement on Provisional Arrangement in Afghanistan, Pending the Reestablishment of Permanent Government of Afghanistan” (the “Bonn Agreement”), which was unanimously agreed upon and signed on the 5th December 2001.

The Bonn Agreement established the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) as the repository of Afghan sovereignty, conducting day-to-day affairs of state and representing Afghanistan at the United Nations, at specialized UN agencies, and at other international institutions and conferences.

The Bonn Agreement also called for the convening of an Emergency Loya Jirga (ELJ) within six months of the establishment of the AIA, with the mandate of designating a Transitional Authority to lead Afghanistan until such time as a fully representative government could be elected through free and fair elections, which were to be held not later than two years from the date of convening the ELJ.

In order to establish an effective and independent national body to advise the Government in all electoral matters and to cooperate with the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) in the preparation and administration of voter registration for the elections, Mr. Hamid Karzai, President of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA) issued Decree n. 39 of 26 July 2003, which established the Interim Afghan Electoral Commission (IAEC). The six members of the IAEC are entrusted with various responsibilities, including recruiting civic education and registration staff, advising the Government on the preparation and issuance of an electoral law, participating in a capacity building programme, preparing for the elections, and any other duties specified by any subsequent legislation relating to the voter registration process for the 2004 general elections.

In order to enhance the effectiveness of the activities of UNAMA and the IAEC, and to strengthen the mechanism for overseeing the conduct of the voters registration for the 2004 general elections, the President of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan also issued Decree n. 40 of 26 July 2003 (subsequently amended by Decree n. 110 of 18 February 2004), which created the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB). The JEMB consists of eleven members, six being the Commissioners of the IAEC and five international electoral experts being appointed by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Afghanistan. The JEMB was established as a Legal/Administrative body tasked with the issuance and publication of regulations, procedures, instructions, notifications, and guidelines for the registration process. Decree n. 110 of 18 February 2004 further gave the JEMB full responsibility for preparing, managing, convening and overseeing the 2004 general elections. The decree also added two non-voting members to the JEMB: the Director of the Electoral Secretariat and the UNAMA Electoral Advisor. The functions of the JEMB will lapse at the end of the transitional period unless provided otherwise by further legislation.