KABUL - The United Nations is suggesting a plan aimed at bringing an end to the current chaos between the legislative and executive branches and to avoid the country sinking into a constitutional crisis, McClatchy newspapers reported. Two international officials have said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue that the UN is pressing the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to unseat 17 lawmakers, the report said.

One official said: "Once the Independent Election Commission makes its announcement, the entire international community will be in lockstep supporting the IEC decision."
A senior US official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, has said the US will support whatever the IEC decides, but it will not support the UN plan.

Weeks after the final results of parliamentary elections announced by the IEC, President Hamid Karzai ordered the formation of a special tribunal to investigate fraud allegations in the elections.
The move of President Karzai was described as a maneuver to insert his supporters into the parliament, which was swept by opposition lawmakers in September parliamentary elections.

After the completion of its probe, the special tribunal ruled that 62 lawmakers should be unseated, but IEC chairman Fazl Ahmad Manawi refused to recognize the tribunal's authority.
Last week President Karzai dissolved the special tribunal and assigned the IEC to have the final say about the election impasse.

But the UN plan could not be left without backlash.
Lawmakers have warned that unseating of a single lawmaker in the house would mean huge demonstrations on to the streets that could result in violence.

"We will not accept at any price any change in the membership of the parliament," said Sediqa Mubarez, a lawmaker from eastern Wardak province. "The protests will move beyond the parliament's walls into the streets and even to the palace."

The plan could also ruin the IEC's credibility as an independent electoral body, because it has already confirmed the results of last year's vote. (Tolo News)