Special court disqualifies 62 MPs (UPDATED)

KABUL‘s 34 provinces, officials announced Thursday.

So far the court has said that 62 of 249 sitting parliamentarians are not qualified to hold their seats, based on the results of a vote recount the court ordered under Article 22 of Afghan election law.

At 12:00 pm Thursday the court announced the names of the 40 candidates from 18 provinces who had won seats in the Wolesi Jirga, the parliament’s lower house, according to the recount.

The court has long been expected to render a decision. The Wolesi Jirga reacted strongly as the announcement approached.

On Wednesday the lower house summoned the attorney general, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and two other Supreme Court justices over the special court, which several parliamentarians argue is unconstitutional. In response, the officials claimed the legislature had no legal standing to summon them and declined to appear before parliament Thursday as requested.

The Wolesi Jirga in turn passed a no-confidence vote against the absent attorney general.

Lawmakers said that up to 80 members of parliament could lose their jobs in the vote recount.

Last week, more than 100 parliamentarians said they would quit the lower house in protest and begin demonstrations if the five-judge court disqualified even one Wolesi Jirga representative from holding office.

The special election court was created by the Supreme Court and approved by President Hamid Karzai after widespread protests by losing candidates who alleged rigging in the Sept. 18 parliamentary vote.

The court has not yet announced recount results for six provinces: Kapisa, Uruzgan, Nimroz, Daikundi, Kunar and Parwan because of discrepancies in the figures, but said the final figures would not cause any seats to change hands in those districts.

The five-judge court also determined that no electoral fraud had taken place in either central Pansher or Bamyan provinces.

The court called for the Independent Election Commission (IEC) to implement its decision and seat the winners of the recount in the Wolesi Jirga.

A list of the candidates who won seats in the recount follows.

The five winning candidates from western Herat province were Nisar Ahmad Faizi Ghoryani, Zarin Zarin, Nasir Atae, Wahid Tahiri, and Maroof Fazli.

In Baghdis four candidates, Mohammad Omar, Habibullah Qadisi, Abdul Latif Jan, Azita Rafat were announced as winners.

The four winning candidates from Kabul province were Ihsan Sahibzada, Baidar Zazai, Abdul Qadar Zazai Watandost and Robina Jalali.

From Ghazni, the four winners were Mohammad Daud Sultanzoi, Abdul Hakim Dalili, Abdul Jabar Shalgari and Niaz Mohammad Amiri.

Three candidates won from Samangan: Ahmad Khan Samangani, Khairullah, and Mahbuba.

The three winning candidates from northern Kunduz province were Nooruddin Baig, Fazal Karim Aimaq, and Rayesa Husainkhel.

From northeastern Badakhshan province, the three winners were Abdul Rauf, Abdul Shakoor Waqif Hakimi, and Munira Baharki.

Three candidates from Faryab won: Gul Mohammad Pahlawan, Najibullah Salimi, and Sultanat Kohi.

Three candidates won in Zabul: Mohammad Ismael Zabuli, Hamidullah Tokhi, and Torpekai.

From Takhar province, the two winners were Mohammad Hashim Haikalzada and Mahbuba.

The two winners from eastern Laghman province were Gul Marai Laghmani and Abdul Hadi Wahidi.

In Paktika two candidates, Mahmud Khan Sulaimankhel and Dr. Khodija won.

In Khost two candidates, Hayat Wazir and Walikhan Helamand, won.

From Nuristan the two winners were Hamidullah Tokhi and Noorullah Maimar.

In Farah two candidates won: Masaud Bakhtawar and Baqir.

From Ghor Din Mohammad and Fazal Ahmad Khan, won.

The two winning candidates in Nangarhar were Malak Nazeer and Mati-ur-Rahman Shinwari.

In Baghlan two candidates, Ashaqullah Wafa and Dr. Mohammad Nasim Modabir, won the recount.

Eng. Asadullah Wafa was the winning candidate from Logar.

One candidate each from the neighboring northern provinces of Balkh and Jawzan won: Mohammad Yousuf Ghazanfar and Roz Mohammad Noor, respectively.

One candidate, Dilawar Totikhel, won in Paktia.

Wahidullah Kalimzai was the one candidate to win the recount in Maidan Wardak.

Mir Wali was the winning candidate in Helmand.

Abdul Qadir was the one winning Kuchi candidate.

From Sar-i-Pul one candidate, Hajji Mohammad Painda, won.

myn/kg

Views: 15