President Hamid Karzai on Thursday backed a decision by Afghan election authorities to kick nine lawmakers out of parliament in a bid to end a vote-rigging row which has lasted nearly a year. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) made the ruling this week but it has so far failed to calm the long-running storm over alleged vote fraud in last September's parliamentary elections.
Its decision was rejected Wednesday in a vote by the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, and prompted hundreds of angry protesters to take to the streets on Tuesday. "All issues related to the parliamentary election are considered ended," Karzai spokesman Siamak Hirawi said. "The recent ruling of the IEC is enforceable and implementable." The IEC was assigned by Karzai to make the final ruling in the nearly year-long row.
In June, a special election tribunal backed by Karzai ruled that 62 lawmakers, a quarter of the lower house of parliament, should be expelled. The IEC's final ruling fell well short of that figure. On Tuesday, up to 700 Afghans marched through Kabul to protest against the decision, chanting anti-UN slogans and accusing the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) of interfering in the process.