The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was a popular party that in 1978 overthrew the regime of Mohammad Daoud, King Zahir Shah's cousin.
The PDPA took power in a revolution that was supported by an enormous majority of the population. Accoring to the New York Times, "nearly every Afghan interviewed said [they were] delighted with the coup." The reform program of the party comprised
- abolition of feudal power in the countryside
- freedom of religion
- equal rights for women and various ethnic minorities
- the release of more than 13,000 political prisioners
- Under tribalism and feudalism, life expectancy was thirty-five and almost one in three children died in infancy. Ninety per cent of the population was illiterate. The new government introduced free medical care in the poorest areas. Peonage was abolished; a mass literacy campaign was begun. For women, the gains were unheard of; by the late 1980s, half the university students were women, and women made up 40 per cent of Afghanistan's doctors, 70 per cent of its teachers and 30 per cent of its civil servants.
The last president of the PDPA was Mohammad Najibullah, who was murdered by the Taliban when this group took power in 1996.
See also: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan