KABUL - A woman parliamentarian, unseated by the Independent Election Commission ('IEC) in August, went on hunger strike unto death in front of the Wolesi Jirga on Sunday.
Samin Barakzai, a public representative from western Herat province, was among the nine sitting MPs disqualified by the commission, which declared as successful as many candidates previously certified as having lost the election.

On August 21, IEC Chairman Fazal Ahmad Manawi told a press conference the nine winners were amongst 62 replacements announced earlier by a special election tribunal.

The five-judge special court that probed vote fraud allegations ruled on June 23 that rigging had occurred in 33 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.

It disqualified 62 of the 249 MPs, nearly a quarter of the lower house, on the basis of a vote recount. But the IEC replaced only nine MPs.

Barakzai warned she would observe hunger strike unto death or her reinstatement as a parliamentarian. Asked if the move would lead to the desired result, she said: "In this country, there are people who will listen to me."

Also a member of the Coalition for the Support of Law Enforcement, she alleged she was victim of "a political game". Her unseating was tantamount to trampling on her voters' right, Barakzai remarked.

"I want to lead an honorable life, even if I have to live for a day. While alive, I can't brook my voters' and my personal rights being snatched," she concluded.