A committee of 15 lawmakers was formed on Sunday to resolve a dispute over the election of Mir Rahman Rahmani as Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of the Parliament.

Iran Press/Asia: Five members of the committee are from Rahmani’s side while five others are from Kamal Nasir Osuli.

Meanwhile, another five MPs are said to be independent members, not affiliated to any one side.

The committee’s work did not yield any results on Sunday; therefore, they decided to postpone  their announcement till Monday.

The lawmakers in the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of the Parliament, remain divided on whether to accept the new Speaker Mir Rahman Rahmani who was declared winner after a vote on Saturday.

Rahmani, who was contesting the seat with Paktia MP Kamal Nasir Osuli, got 123 votes while his opponent got 55 votes.

Following the dispute over the new speaker, video footage emerged on social media, apparently captured by some lawmakers, showing angry MPs trying to stop the new speaker taking his seat.

Other footage showed a group of female lawmakers occupying the speaker’s seat and calling for an interim speaker and re-election for the position.

Talking to TOLO news, 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 added that the lawmakers "are not willing to address the issue through legal channels".

On Saturday, 18 May 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 into a controversy.  213/211

 

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