27 February 2011 VOA News Afghan lawmakers elected a former Uzbek warlord as speaker of the lower house of parliament Sunday, ending weeks of squabbling over the position.
The election of Abdul Rahoof Ibrahimi, who represents northern Kunduz province, as speaker of the 249-member Wolesi Jirga clears the way for the lawmakers to begin legislating five months after the country's September 18 parliamentary elections. That vote was marred by widespread allegations of fraud and voter intimidation.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai swore in the new Wolesi Jirga on January 26, after which it squabbled over two main candidates for speaker — former speaker Younus Qanooni and former warlord Abdulrab Rasoul Sayyaf. However, both men failed to win enough votes.
The parliament's opening ceremony on January 26 followed a week-long political standoff between the Afghan president and newly elected members of parliament.
The Afghan president had asked the lawmakers to wait a month before convening the opening session, saying a special tribunal he set up to investigate fraud charges related to the elections needed more time to work. But the lawmakers said the tribunal, which has the power to unseat any candidate involved in vote-rigging, is illegal and unconstitutional.
The final results from the September elections were not announced until December 1, after officials reviewed about 5,000 fraud claims, including vote-rigging and voter intimidation by local warlords. The Independent Election Commission disqualified nearly one-quarter of the votes, as well as 24 candidates who appeared to win seats.
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