Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Committee Formed to Solve Tension Over Parliament Speaker

Committee Formed to Solve  Tension Over Parliament Speaker

KABUL - A committee of 15 lawmakers was formed on Sunday to solve the tension over the election of Mir Rahman Rahmani as Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of the Parliament.
Khan Agha Rezaee, Ajmal Rahmani, Mirdad Nijrabi, Nahid Farid and Humayun Harirod are the five members of the committee from Rahmani’s side while Khan Mohammad Wardak, Jawed Safi, Sayed Ahmad Khadim, Razia Mangal and Abdul Rasheed Azizi are from Kamal Nasir Osuli.
Meanwhile, five MPs, including Abdul Qayum Sajjadi, Irfanullah Irfan, Fraidoon Mohmand, Sediq Ahmad Osmani, and Mohammadullah Batash, are the impartial members of the committee.
The committee’s work did not yield any result on Sunday; therefore, they decided to announce their decision on Monday.
The lawmakers in the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of the Parliament, on Sunday divided over accepting the new Speaker Mir Rahman Rahmani who was declared winner after a voting session on Saturday.
Rahmani, who was competing for the seat with Paktia MP Kamal Nasir Osuli, got 123 votes while his opponent got 55 votes.
Following the rifts on the new speaker, some footages, apparently captured by some lawmakers, were released on social media showing angry MPs trying to stop the new speaker to take his seat.
Other footage showed that a group of female lawmakers occupying the speaker’s seat and calling for an interim speaker and re-election for the position.
Talking to TOLOnews, Kabul MP Ramazan Bashardost said the controversy in the parliament over the election of the new speaker can be solved through legitimate ways, but he says the lawmakers "are not willing to address the issue through legal channels".
On Saturday, May 18, there were 247 MPs when the voting started and based on this quorum, 124 votes were needed for a winning candidate, but 244 MPs cast their votes at the end of voting. Based on the last quorum, 123 votes were needed for a winning candidate but the missing votes from the total 247 MPs turned the process controversial. (Tolo news)