KABUL - The Wolesi Jirga -- or lower house of parliament -- on Wednesday decided against any mention of tribe in computerized national identity cards (CNICs).

A draft law regarding population census, having seven chapters and 39 articles, has been sent by the Ministry of Justice to the Wolesi Jirga for approval to prevent fraud in issuance of the cards.

Internal Security Commission head Mir Dad Khan Najrabi said after a long debate, the panel found seven articles of the draft law controversial.

A public representative from Faryab province, Naqibullah Faiq, insisted tribe should be mentioned in the new cards to show the population of a specific ethnic group.

Of the 125 lawmakers present during the session, 76 voted in favor of including the tribe’s name in the database, but not in the ID card.

Najrabi said some of legislators insisted on mentioning the last name in the cards, a demand approved by the house. The MPs also suggested the mention of regions and numbers of previous ID cards.

Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi said draft should be approved as soon as possible, because the distribution of new cards had already been delayed. (Pajhwok)